Strawberry Bubbles
by FrozenLioness
Summary: Riku is turned into a little boy! Can Sora take care of him until they found a way to get him back to normal? [Fluff, Waff, Kawaiiness, Shonen Ai in later chapters] -Chapter 15! COMPLETE-
1. Riku goes chibi!

**

Disclaimer:  


** Tarzan: Me Tarzan. Me not own Kingdom Hearts. Me own treehouse in jungle.   
FrozenLioness: Thanks Tarzan *sweatdrops* Ehh all right. I don't own Kingdom Hearts either, ok?   
Please don't sue me. ****

Warnings:  
A super kawaii chibi Riku! ****

Author's Ranting:   
I wrote this fic while I was half asleep so don't hate me if it's stupid. Well, I actually think it's cute, so, hah!   
The story is called Strawberry Bubbles because... I dunno. It sounded cute and the fic is cute XD   
Umm...ok, I should stop rambling, I have nothing to say, really. Just read and enjoy. I hope. 

  


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"Riku! Get back here!" Selphie yelled, as she raced after the silver-haired boy. 

"No!! I'm not drinking this stuff! Who knows what you put in there!" 

Riku dashed towards the beach, intending to jump into the water and swim away from the hellish yellow-clad creature also known as Selphie, the hyperactive rubberball. Unfortunately, he tripped over a log on the ground as he looked back to see if Selphie was still following him, and fell straight on his face. Selphie quickly took the chance to catch up with him and tackled him as he tried to get up. 

"Dammit, Sel! Leave me alone! I don't want to drink that green stuff!" he yelled, trying to shove her away. Selphie ignored his struggles and grabbed his nose, squeezing it before she poured the liquid into his mouth. 

"And now be a good boy and swallow," the girl chirped, patting Riku's head while she grinned almost gleefully. 

Riku glared but swallowed in order to breathe again, coughing as the liquid ran down his throat. Selphie let go off him and bounced up. 

"See? Wasn't that bad, right?" 

Riku grunted and shrugged. 

"I'm still living. What the heck was that, anyway?" he asked, frowning at the strange feeling he suddenly got. 

The brunette grinned. "Oh, me and Kairi tried to make a potion." 

The silver haired boy raised his eyebrows in curiosity. 

"Oh? A potion? For what?" 

Selphie smiled mysteriously and then began to giggle. Riku frowned at that, but then Selphie opened her mouth to speak. 

"Last night we had a sleepover, and Kairi found some photos of you and Sora when you were little...I mean, you were that tall," she said, gesturing their height with her hands. The palm of her hand was just above her knee, showing that Riku and Sora must have been about two or three years old to be so small. 

Riku nodded, expecting Selphie to eventually come to the point. 

"You were so cute, Kairi said the same thing," she added, but then stopped talking what so ever. Riku patiently waited but there was nothing. Selphie simply brushed herself off and flipped around to bounce away, just like Riku wasn't there at all. 

"H-hey! Wait! Selphie!" he called after her, but the brunette just bounced away, waving at him. 

"See ya, little one," she called, and then she was gone, leaving Riku stare in confusion. 

"Little one? I'm older and bigger than her, no one calls me 'little one'," he muttered, surprised as he heard his voice. Since when was it so high? 

Riku frowned as he suddenly felt that strange feeling again, His clothes seemed to get loose and his surroundings grew. They got bigger and bigger until large aqua eyes blinked in innocent fascination as they stared at a twinkling seashell. 

"Woooow...Thas shiny!" a child-like voice exclaimed and small chubby fingers reached to touch the object. 

  
"Hey Riku!" 

By the mention of his name, the boy turned around to see a very big Sora. He was almost three times bigger. 

"Sora? Why are you so big?" 

The brunette stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the person before him. Short silver hair. Large aqua eyes that were blinking at him with such pure innocence, rivaling his own twinkling eyes. Clothes almost five sizes too large and an adorable little body. 

"Ri...Riku?" Sora asked with raised eyebrows. Could this little baby boy really be Riku? This boy looked exactly like the young Riku Sora had known...the only problem was, HOW did he turn into a 3 years-old boy? 

"What?" Riku gave a snappy reply, crossing his arms in a childish manner. Then, when he attempted to step forward, he tripped over his now much too big shoes and hit the ground rather ungracefully. Sora winced and quickly rushed to help him up. 

"Hey, you okay?" He patted the small boy on the back and made him look up. There was a red mark on his forehead. Sora bit his lip, feeling his heart jump at the sight. This was so adorable. On the one side, it must have really hurt and Sora felt sympathetic, but on the other hand, Riku looked so helpless and cute as he sniffled to hold back his tears. 

Sora could see that he was fighting the tears with all his strength. The brunette smiled and cupped Riku's cheek, ruffling his hair slightly. 

"You don't have to cry. Remember what my mom always says? You'll grow whenever you fall, so don't cry." 

Riku's expression immediately changed, and Sora saw the bright eyes glare at him. 

"I'm not crying! Crying is for babies. I'm a man! I'm already thwee years old!" He showed Sora three fingers to emphasize his statement. 

Sora laughed at that, melting at the pure sweetness of this boy. He couldn't quite remember if Riku had been like this when they were little, because Sora had been too young to remember, but he knew that this Riku was too cute for his own good. Sora wondered what might have happened to turn Riku into this, but he couldn't find any logical answer. It was impossible, he thought, but then he looked at the boy before him, who was staring at Sora's gravity defying hair as though it was something magical. It was possible. Somehow. Because Riku was there, and he was three years old. 

Sora shook his head and crouched down to Riku. 

"I don't know how you got like this, but you'll come with me for now, okay?" 

He smiled and picked the silver haired boy up, cradling a kicking and punching Riku. 

"Lemme go! I'm not a baby!" he wailed, trying to wriggle out of Sora's arms. The brunette chuckled and only tightened his arms. 

"You can't walk in these clothes. Come on, I'll get you to my house. My parents aren't at home for the next week. I think you should stay with me until we found out what happened and how to get you back to normal, ok?" 

The words, however, were nonexistent for Riku, for the little boy was too caught up in the magic of Sora's necklace. As Sora looked down, he saw how Riku watched the pendant bounce whenever Sora took a step and he almost laughed as Riku leaned too close so that the silvery object hit his face. Riku mewled and glared, trying to hold the thing in place by scowling at it. Of course, it didn't work, and Riku eventually gave up, leaning his head on Sora's shoulder. 

"..I'm hungry.." he murmured, starting to chew on Sora's shirt. 

The brunette swatted Riku's head away to stop him from biting him and nudged his nose with his index finger. 

"Stop eating me until we're home and then you'll get something really good." 

Riku sulked, considering the words, and eventually nodded. He rolled his eyes heavenwards and sighed, leaning back on Sora's shoulder. 

Sora carried Riku to his house and placed him on the kitchen counter while he prepared a bowl of cereal for his little friend. 

"So," he began as he poured the milk over the Choco Crispies. "Do you remember what happened?" 

Riku beamed at the bowl that was almost as big as him. He shook his head in answer to Sora's question and began to stuff the cereal into his mouth. Being a little child, he started to make a mess with the milk and Sora quickly took the spoon. He wiped at Riku's mouth and cleaned the little mess before he began to feed his friend, preventing the kitchen to turn into a battlefield. 

"You don't remember? Well, what's the last thing you know?" 

Sora paused feeding Riku to let him think. The silver haired boy put a finger to his chin and knitted his brows in thought. He was obviously thinking very hard and absently let his legs dangle from the counter. 

"Mmm....still hungry!" he eventually whined, tugging on Sora's arm to make him feed him. 

Sora smiled and fed him a little more until Riku shook his head and pressed his lips together. 

"Full," he said, letting his hands rest in his lap. 

Sora finished the rest and put the bowl in the sink. 

"Now come on, Riku. What do you remember? There must be something." 

Riku sighed and stared at his small hands. He couldn't remember. Everything was fuzzy, and the only thing he remembered was Sora. 

"I dunno..." he murmured, inspecting his hands. Sora heaved a sigh and placed a hand on Riku's head. 

"Do you remember your friends? Selphie? Tidus, Wakka, Kairi?" 

Riku looked up, a small frown on his baby-like features. "I remember you," he answered, reaching out to poke Sora's cheek. 

The brunette chuckled and shook his head. "But the others? Do you remember them? Your parents? Anything?" 

Riku was obviously more confused than Sora and the little boy's frown got deeper with every word. Sora noticed that his mind couldn't grasp what was going on, and that he probably didn't remember a thing. 

"My parents are mean. They never come home," Riku quietly said, looking a little hurt. The brunette raised an eyebrow. Of course! Riku's parents were both working and they always came home at night when he was already sleeping, and in the morning they were gone before he woke up. It had been that way since he was a little child. 

"Stay with me and I'll take care of you," Sora assured, smiling affectionately. Riku looked up and nodded in agreement. Sora grinned and the ruffled soft silver hair. Riku pouted and tried to swat the hands away. 

"Don't be mean!" he whined, desperately trying to get the hand out of his hair. Sora chuckled and continued to ruffle the hair. 

"You're so cute," he laughed as Riku crossed his arms and sulked. 

"Aw come on," Sora smiled, hugging his little friend. Riku was surprised but also enjoyed the feeling since he had never been treated this way by his parents. 

After a while, Sora pulled away. 

"Oh right, I need to make a call. Stay here, all right? I'll be right back." 

Sora rushed into the living room and picked up the receiver, dialing the number of Riku's house. No one answered. Sora rolled his eyes and dialed the number of the place where Riku's mom was working. 

Someone picked up. 

"Hello?" 

Sora mentally cheered. 

"Hi! This is Sora. I just wanted to tell you that Riku is going to stay over at my place for a few days, is that all right?" 

A laugh was audible and Riku's mother replied, "Of course, honey. You two take care of yourselves, Riku's father and I are very busy at the moment. Just don't do anything I wouldn't do." 

Sora nodded, although the woman couldn't see it and before he could say anything else, Riku's mother hung up. 

He rolled his eyes. Riku's parents were even worse than workerholics. They probably wouldn't even notice that Riku turned into a child. Sighing again, Sora made his way back to the kitchen where he found that Riku was no longer on the counter. 

"Riku? Riku," he called, wondering where he had run off to. Grinning, he took a deep breath. 

"Riiiikuuuuuu! Where aaaaare youuuuu," Sora sang. 

He stopped, listening for any answer. 

"In your rooooooom!" came a reply, equally melodic. Sora snickered. They used to do that when they were kids. He made his way to his room, only to find that Riku wasn't wearing any pants even more, but only his shirt that covered him like an extra long cloak. His clothes were much too big, but Sora had nothing to give him instead. 

"Whee! Come on and jump, too!" Riku squealed as he began to jump on the bed. Sora slapped his forehead and heaved a long sigh. 

"Don't jump on the bed, Riku. You're ruining it," he said in a tone that reminded of an annoyed parent. 

Riku stopped immediately and stared wide-eyed. 

"You..." He slowly lifted his arm to point at Sora. 

"You....sound like mom!" Riku yelled, sticking his tongue out before he began to bounce again. Sora's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to deny it, but then he realized that Riku was right. He remembered the time when the two of them played and their parents always told them to stop because they'd ruin or break something. Of course, he now knew that they had been right, but for a 3 year old, it was simply inconceivable. 

Deciding that a little fun wouldn't kill them, and that Riku was simply too adorable to resist, Sora joined him jumping on the bed. 

Riku smiled at him and they jumped until Riku was too exhausted to go on. His little chest was heaving and his hair was damp and messy. Sora had stopped awhile ago and was lying sprawled on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Riku finally managed to catch his breath and decided to lie down too... 

...on Sora. 

Giggling at Sora's protesting sounds, Riku lay on Sora's stomach, resting his head on his hands to look directly into Sora's eyes. He was smiling. 

Sora stopped protesting and looked back, seeing how wonderfully pure and innocent Riku's eyes were. In this state, Riku was simply an angel. 

Sora raised an eyebrow as Riku began to move again. He pushed himself up and crawled a little bit father until he reached Sora's cheek. The brunette felt something amazingly soft press against his cheek, so shy and timid, yet so full of honest affection and he smiled as he watched Riku withdraw and crawl off him to curl up beside him. 

He didn't know what had happened to Riku, but he certainly wouldn't mind if he stayed like this for a little longer. Riku was such a cute little kid, and Sora enjoyed that for once, he was the older and smarter one while Riku was the cute and innocent one. 

He would gladly babysit this darling little angel until he was back to normal. 

  


~To be continued.....?~ 

  
~~~~~~~~ 

  


**Ending notes:  
** Depending on how you guys like this story I'll continue. *shrugs*   
So review review review! There's no other way to tell me how great I am XD  
ehh.. .right. anyway.. we'll see if this story has potential... ja ne! 


	2. Questions, questions, questions

**

Disclaimer:  


** Kingdom Hearts I own not -_- ****

Warnings:  
A even more kawaii chibi Riku...and he's naked too O.o   
(OH COME ON! HE'S A LIL KID! no hentais here! geez....) ****

Author's Ranting:   
Thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaank you sooo much for the reviews! Wow I haven't got so many reviews since Next Lesson ^.~  
So, naturally, here's the second chapter. I hope you like it. 

  


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Sora turned over to his nightstand and looked at the alarm clock. It was only afternoon. Riku had fallen asleep shortly after he curled up beside him and now he was sleeping peacefully. Sora smiled as he saw the small form lying there. As soon as Riku woke up, they would have to find some clothes for him and then meet Kairi and the others to find out what happened. 

Riku stifled a quiet yawn and rolled over to lie on his stomach, digging his head into the pillow. Sora had to fight the urge to go 'awww' and quickly turned away to stare at the wall on the other side of the room. Seeing Riku like this was killing him, or rather, it would kill Riku, because Sora had to hold back the urge to squeeze and cuddle him to death. 

Riku suddenly sneezed, making Sora's gaze snap back to the boy. 

"Sora?" 

The little boy opened his eyes and rubbed his nose, shaking his head like a puppy. Sora smiled. "Yeah?" 

Riku looked at him with sleepy eyes and sat up. "I'm hungry," he said, eyes still half-lidded while his lips formed Sora's trademark pout. 

"Hungry? But you just ate...." Sora replied, raising his eyebrows in surprise. Either this boy was trying to be annoying, or he really was just a glutton. The first possibility was rather unlikely, because little Riku could not be annoying, no matter what he did. 

Sora sighed and nodded. "Fine, what do you want to eat, then?" He cocked his head as Riku crawled onto him, starting to gnaw on his shirt again. Riku mumbled something unintelligible into the shirt and gnawed more, almost biting Sora's shoulder. 

"Hey hey hey," Sora gently pushed him away. Riku inhaled sharply and then fell right back to sleep. Sora scratched his head and decided to let Riku sleep a little more. Maybe he could find something to wear in the meantime. As soon as Sora left the room, a loud wail stopped him. Quickly, he ran back to his room to find Riku sitting helplessly on the bed. 

"Where did you go?!" he demanded, crossing his arms as he sniffled. 

Sora sighed and shook his head. "I thought you were asleep. I just wanted to find something to wear for you. You can't run around in that shirt." He went back to the bed and sat down beside Riku, patting his head. 

"I'm just in the next room, don't worry. Just lie down and sleep. If there is anything just call me." 

Riku had a sulky look on his face as he looked up at Sora from beneath his eyelashes. For a long time, he didn't say anything, just looked at Sora with that look. Then he snorted. 

"I'm not tired. I don't want to sleep. Let me help you find clothes!" he took a deep breath to make his chest bigger and Sora laughed at the attempt of looking brave. He patted Riku's head again, loving the feel of the hair that felt like it was made of velvet, and nodded. 

"Fine. We'll start searching in my parents' room. Maybe they kept some of my old clothes." 

Riku nodded eagerly and bounced off the bed, rushing out of the room. Sora blinked. Hadn't he just been totally sleepy and tired? His thoughts, however, were interrupted by loud squealing sound, followed by laughter. Quickly, Sora followed the sound and eventually found Riku rolling around on his parents' four poster. 

"It's soo biiiig!" Riku squealed in delight and rolled around, making somersaults. 

Sora slapped his forehead and sighed. Then he smiled, seeing that Riku was completely busy with the bed so he could look for clothes without being distracted by the little boy. He went over to the closet and opened the doors. Lots of old clothes were in it, most of them were his parents' clothes like the wedding dress of his mother. 

"If I could only remember where she put my clothes... I know she kept some of them..." Sora started digging through the clothes, taking them out one by one. He was so caught up in searching through the things that he didn't notice that Riku had come over from the bed and was now crouching beside him, putting the clothes back in. 

Every time Sora took something from the right corner out , Riku put it back into the left corner, making the whole situation turn into an endless game. Sora was getting frustrated and began to wonder why the clothes kept getting more and more, until he turned to his side to see his little friend working eagerly. 

"Riku? What the hell are you doing?" he asked, sounding tired. 

Riku stopped putting the clothes in and looked at him, his lips formed the shape of an 'O'. Then he pointed at Sora. 

"You said 'hell'!" 

Sora shrugged. Riku frowned and crossed his arms. "You're not supposed to say that! It's a baaaad word!" He stretched the word 'bad' to emphasize that he was serious. Sora blinked. Right. For a three-year-old boy, it was a bad word. Kids weren't supposed to say those things. 

"Sorry," Sora offered, scratching his head. Riku scowled at him and Sora began to feel nervous. Who knew what a little kid could do. They could turn into monsters sometimes. Riku narrowed his eyes at Sora and Sora looked at him, half expecting him to jump and bite him like a dog. 

Riku, however, only began to put the clothes back in, ignoring Sora totally. Sora frowned and watched him, until he saw Riku holding something really small. It was a small shirt! 

"Riku, wait!" 

He quickly grabbed the shirt and inspected it. It was white and had blue stripes. Not really beautiful but maybe it would look cute on Riku. Riku blinked as he suddenly didn't have anything to hold and cocked his head. 

"Hey give it back! I have to put back in!" 

Sora chuckled. "Neat freak, aren't we?" he laughed, ignoring the fact that Riku had no idea what that weird neat-freak thingy was. 

"Don't worry about it, you will wear this. You don't have to put it back." 

Sora looked through the rest of the clothes while Riku watched, and eventually he found the matching underpants and pants. The only thing that was missing were the shoes but shoes weren't really necessary on Destiny Islands. 

"Okay, now we got the clothes. Come here, I'll dress you," Sora said, extending his hand to Riku. The little boy crossed his arms, stubbornly looking away. 

"Don't wanna," he answered, sticking his tongue out. 

Sora rolled his eyes. "You mean you want to wear this cloak-like shirt forever?" He gave Riku a look, holding the other, smaller shirt in his hand. Riku looked at the shirt, then at Sora, and then back at the shirt. He threw his arms into the air and groaned. 

"Fine, fine, dress me, whatever!" 

Sora smiled. If it weren't for the adorable child-like voice, this would have sounded exactly like the old Riku. The brunette motioned his friend to come over and the young boy obeyed, although only hesitantly. 

"Lift your arms," Sora said, pulling the shirt up. He couldn't help to blush as he saw that Riku wasn't wearing anything underneath. 

'He's just a kid, Sora. Just a baby. Besides, he's a boy,' he reminded himself, trying to clear his thoughts. He tried to remove the shirt quickly so he could let Riku put his pants on, but Riku had other plans. As soon as he was freed and naked, he squeaked and dashed out of the room. 

"Riku!" Sora yelled, jumping up to follow him. Riku was laughing and running towards the bathroom, where he stopped. 

Sora came in, panting to catch his breath. As he was about to scold Riku for running away, he saw that the little boy was staring wide-eyed at the bathtub. Before Sora could say anything, Riku began to climb into it. Sora blinked as he watched Riku trying his best to get in although he was too short to reach it properly. To Riku, the bathtub seemed like one big mountain he had to climb, and Sora simply stood there and watched him. Surprisingly, Riku managed to get in, plopping onto the hard bottom with a 'thump'. 

"Owwie..." he whined, grimacing in pain. Sora walked to him and crouched down to lean his arms on the bathtub. 

"You wanna take a bath?" 

Riku turned to face him, unconsciously using the puppy eye look on him. He nodded. 

Sora shrugged and turned on the water. "Okay. I suppose you need me to wash you, huh?" he asked, noting that he was blushing again. 'God, he's just a little boy, stop blushing you idiot!' he thought to himself. 

Riku nodded and pointed at one of the bottles that were standing around the bathtub. "I want bubble bath!" he exclaimed, looking at Sora with irresistible twinkling eyes. 

"Oh, all right," Sora sighed, pouring some of the liquid into the water. Riku smiled happily as he watched Sora move his hands in the water to make the bubbles appear. He began to imitate the motion and soon laughed as he was able to make his own bubbles. Sora smiled, remembering the time he and Riku used to take baths together. They often had sleepovers and their parents always let them take bubble baths together. 

It didn't take long for Riku to be covered in bubbles and water and Sora took out a cloth to wash him. After a while, it all seemed natural to Sora and he wondered if he should get so attached to the little Riku. He would turn back sooner or later, wouldn't he? If not, how was he supposed to tell his parents? Sora didn't know what to do. Riku was so cute like this but he still needed the old Riku back. 

"You're thinking," Riku stated as he saw that Sora was staring off into space. The silver haired boy splashed a little water towards Sora's face and successfully shook him out of his thoughts. 

"Huh?" 

Riku lifted his hand and poked Sora's cheek like he had done in the kitchen. "What are you thinking about?" he asked, splashing the bubbles around. 

Sora sighed and shook his head, dismissing the question. Riku pouted and splashed Sora right into the face. "Tell me!" he demanded, making a mess with the water. Sora wiped his face with a nearby towel and rolled his eyes as Riku crossed his arms. He looked so ridiculous but still so adorable with those bubbles on his hair, looking like he was wearing a hat. 

"I was thinking about what we're going to do after the bath," Sora answered, looking at his wet clothes. He would have to change, too. 

Riku nodded. "And what are we going to do after the bath?" he asked. Sora scratched his head and shrugged. 

"I don't know, that's why I was thinking. Maybe we should go to Kairi," he answered, hoping that Riku remembered Kairi. He didn't seem to remember much. As he looked at him, Riku nodded again, before he sighed and got up. 

"Okay, I'm done," he murmured, already trying to climb out of the bathtub. 

"Wait a second," Sora said and took the sprayhead, washing off the remaining bubbles. Riku giggled as the water came tumbling down on him and opened his mouth to catch some of the drops. Sora laughed as he watched this and finished off before Riku climbed out of the bathtub. 

"Cloooooothes!" he called, standing completely wet and naked in the bathroom. Sora quickly covered him with a towel and ran into the room to get the clothes. When he got back, Riku was trying to reach the wash-basin. 

"Wazzat?" he asked as he saw Sora coming back. The brunette raised his eyebrows and then saw that Riku was pointing at the bottle standing near the wash-basin. 

"That's soap," he answered. Riku cocked his head. 

"Soap? Wazzat?" 

Sora laughed. "That's what you use when you wash your hands." 

"Why?" Riku asked. 

"Why what?" Sora answered. 

Riku rolled his eyes. "Why do you use this soap?" 

Sora blinked, and thought for a while. Then he nodded. "Because soap makes your skin clean." 

"Doesn't water make your skin clean, too?" 

The brunette frowned. Was Riku going to question him further? He shrugged. "Yeah, so you use water and soap, and you're perfectly clean." Wow, that was good. Riku couldn't possibly ask another question now, could he? 

"Where does soap come from?" 

Sora slapped his forehead and sighed. Riku watched him with a bemused look, waiting for the answer. Sora smiled weakly and sighed again. 

"Soap is produced in factories." 'Keep the answer as short and as simple as possible, then he'll stop asking,' he thought to himself. 

"What is 'factories'?" 

Sora paused. He had to think of something good now. "A factory is a place where soap is made," he proudly answered, hoping that he had answered everything. However, Riku seemed to be much more curious now. 

"And where does water come from?" 

Sora felt like crying. So Riku _ could _ be annoying. Then he remembered that three-year-old kids tended to ask questions endlessly and he suddenly wished for the old Riku to come back. Riku would always know how to answer those questions, he practically knew the answer to everything. But right now it was _ Riku _ asking the questions. Oh joy... 

Sora chose his only option. 

"I'll tell you later. Now come and let me dress you." 

Riku sulked and struggled as Sora tried to put the clothes on him. "Come on, don't be a baby. I'll tell you later, just get dressed and let's see Kairi." 

The silver haired boy stomped his foot and pouted, but he let Sora dress him completely. When he was done, Sora picked his friend up and showed him the mirror. 

"See? Now it's much better, right?" 

Riku refused to look into the mirror and continued to sulk. Sora rolled his eyes and set him down on the floor again, looking him over. He had been right, the shirt _ did _ look very cute on him. White with blue stripes. And he had the matching shorts, navy blue. The color seemed to fit Riku perfectly, and the size was just perfect. Maybe still a little too large, but that's what made it look so cute. 

Ruffling his hair, Sora took Riku's hand and lead him out of the bathroom, towards the door. 

"Let's go and see the others now, okay? And don't let go of my hand. I can't have you run away before we know what's happened to you." 

Riku was _ still _ sulking and ignored Sora, simply staring at the ground. Sora sighed and began to walk, pulling Riku along. They were only moving slow because Riku's short legs couldn't go as fast as Sora's. They walked in silence and Sora occasionally glanced down at Riku, who was still ignoring him. Heaving a sigh, he stopped and crouched down to his friend. 

The silver haired boy looked away, intentionally pretending to be offended. Sora smiled and used his index finger to turn his face back. 

"Water comes from the ocean. See? There's our ocean," he said, taking Riku by the shoulders to turn him towards the beach. The boy's eyes widened and his lips formed a big smile as he turned back to Sora. 

Sora smiled, too, relieved that Riku wasn't sulking anymore. He patted his cheek and then got up to walk ahead, pulling Riku along. As they walked, Riku tugged on Sora's hand. 

"Ne Sora!" 

Sora looked down. "Hm?" 

Riku grinned. 

"Where does the ocean come from?" 

  


~To be continued.....?~ 

  
~~~~~~~~ 

  


**Ending notes:  
** Tadaa...there's your second chapter. Liked it? Please tell me!  
This chapter was just...a filler. Kind of. Next Chappy will be about Riku meeting Kairi and...dun dun dun SELPHIE!  
The others (meaning Tidus 'n' Wakka) may be there too  
So...do you want to see what happens when the little brat meets the girls? DO YOU?! I hope you do, because I wanna ^^ 

Chibi Riku: Where do girls come from? 

Ehhh...heh...all righty, let's just stop here. 


	3. Meeting the Monsters

**

Disclaimer:  


** I dreamed I was a moron ~ Squall Leonhart FF8  
ForzenLioness: And I dreamt I owned Kingdom Hearts, but unfortunately I just write lame fanfics T-T  
****

Warnings:  
chibi Riku as usual... try not to die from kawaiiness ^.~ oh and a little Selphie and Kairi bashing. I didn't mean it though.. it's just Riku's way of seeing them, ok? I like Selphie! And Kairi's just... Kairi. *rolls eyes*****

Author's Ranting:   
Thanks again for the reviews, I'm glad you like this story ^^  
So, already a new chapter... geez, I shouldn't write so fast, you'll just get used to it and then you're disappointed because I get into a slump -_-  
Anyway.. this chapter... Riku meets the others! Kairi and Selphie are monsters... O.o Have fun! 

  


~~~~~~~~ 

  


Sora sighed in exhaustion. Finally, they had arrived at Kairi's house. Riku had purposely been a pain in the neck, asking questions all the way. And the worst thing was, he had begun to ask where the babies came from. Sora had turned beet-red and stammered something about telling him when he was older to which Riku stubbornly replied that he was old enough. 

Thus, Sora had to make up a story about a stork delivering babies in boxes to the happy parents. 

"You're lying," Riku commented as Sora finished his little fairy tale. The brunette raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms. 

"Why do you think that? It's perfectly true." 

Riku gave him a look and crossed his arms, too. "I'm not as stupid as you think, I know that babies can't breathe in boxes!" He stuck out his tongue and looked proudly at Sora. 

The brunette stared for a while before he started to laugh. Riku immediately pouted, frowning in confusion. Why was Sora laughing at him? 

"Hey! Don't laugh at me!" he whined, bouncing on his feet, trying to punch Sora. And he nearly hit him where it hurt the most. 

"Woah watch it!" Sora quickly stopped Riku and crouched down to him. "I wasn't laughing at you. I was just...um...you were just so cute, I had to laugh." He smiled, ruffling the silver haired boy's head. Riku thrust his lower lip forward and pushed against Sora's hand, trying to get it away. Sora grinned and ruffled his head more, loving to tease the little boy. He could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. Sora got up and tried to take Riku's hand, but the young boy refused. 

Just when Sora wanted to pick him up, the door swung open and Kairi stood in the doorway, eyebrows raised. 

"Sora? What are you doing here? I was just about to visit Se--" She stopped, looking down to the person next to Sora. She blinked and froze. Sora rubbed his hands nervously, titling his head to peer at Kairi. 

"Uhh, Kairi?" He leaned forward, waving a hand before her face. The girl remained still. 

Riku kicked the sand beneath his feet and watched it being carried away by the wind. It seemed fascinating to him as he watched in concentration, repeatedly kicking to make more sand come up. 

"So....so..." Kairi's lips moved, and a faint sound came out. "So...he's so..." Suddenly, Kairi attacked Riku, hugging and cuddling him. 

"HE'S SO CUTE!!" she squealed, pinching the poor boy's cheeks while she pulled him close to her. "Awww Sora! Is that really Riku? Awww isn't he the sweetest boy ever? Aww I wanna eat you, you little darling!" 

Riku had a look of horror on his face and tried to wriggle out of Kairi's death grip, but the girl was too strong. She continued to shower him with kisses and hugged him almost to death, talking in stupid baby language to him. Riku was three, he could talk like a normal person. 

"Heeeelp! The monster is goin to eeeaaaat me!" he wailed, hoping for Sora to save him. The brunette was laughing so hard that he didn't hear the cry of help, although he did feel sorry for Riku. Kairi was doing exactly what Sora wanted to do all day. Riku was just the most adorable being on this earth. 

Finally, Kairi pulled away, ruffling Riku's hair once more before she stood up again, smiling dreamily at him. 

Riku's face was now as blue as his shorts and he panted for air, glaring at Kairi. The girl totally ignored the look. "Aww! Is little Riku hungry? Do you want to make happa happa? I have lots of sweets here! Or do you wanna play? Playing is soo fun, right?" 

Sora doubled over in laughter at Kairi's attempt of talking to Riku, and the little boy only stared at her as though she was a total retard. Then he crossed his arms, wearing a cool and smooth expression on his face, very unlikely for a three-year-old but reminding of the normal Riku. He looked up to her with his crossed arms and said, 

"Just because _you're_ a moron, you don't have to treat _me_ like one." 

Kairi flinched and blinked. "Ehh?" 

Sora nearly choked at the statement and crouched down to Riku. "Riku! You don't say such things to your friends!" And where did he learn that word anyway? Wasn't 'moron' a bad word, just like 'hell'? 

The silver haired gave him a look as if to say 'but she's really a retard' and then turned away, ignoring both of them. Kairi just stood there, kind of dazed and shocked because of Riku's behavior. Sora scratched his head and shrugged, trying to apologize for Riku. 

"He's just in a bad mood, I guess. But what I wanted to ask..." 

"Do you know what happened to make him into this? I found him on the beach and he was already like that. He says he can't remember anything. I mean, the only thing he remembers, is me." Sora sighed and looked at Kairi. She frowned and rubbed her temple, thinking. 

She narrowed her eyes. "Um...well...it could be..um, my fault," she then said, frowning even more. Sora's eyes widened. 

"What? Why? How?!" 

Kairi ruffled her hair in confusion and took a deep breath. She looked at Riku again, studying the little boy before her. Then she shook her head, blinking a few times. She sighed. 

"Selphie and I made a potion. We were looking at photos and we saw little Riku, and we thought he was cute. I said I wish I could turn him into a little boy again, and we started to fool around with potions because Selphie had this chemistry game... I just never thought this stuff works! Selphie said that we were just playing and that it would never work." 

She looked again at the silver haired boy and chuckled. "But isn't he just the cutest being ever?" 

Riku winced, preparing for another attack of the baby language talking retard. Sora chuckled and nodded, melting at the sight of his little friend. Then he got serious again and sighed. 

"So you made a potion. Something chemical? Do you think there is something like a reverse potion?" Sora closed his eyes and prayed. Kairi just had to know a cure. She just had to. 

"No." 

"Darn!" Sora barked. This was just stupid. The whole situation seemed like one of those stories where a crazy fangirl author chibified her favorite character just to trouble the others... **hint hint XD** 

"Sorry," Kairi tried to comfort Sora, smiling sheepishly. "I never thought it would actually work." 

Sora shook his head and smiled. "Nah, it's not your fault. We just...have to find out what to do now. How do we tell his parents?" 

The two teens frowned. Riku was listening to them although he was still not looking at them. What were they talking about? He didn't understand one word. For a few moments, the three of them just stood in silence.   


"Where do the babies come from?" Riku suddenly piped up, looking at Kairi with big hopeful eyes. 

Kairi raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked at Sora. The brunette suddenly had a wicked smile on his face and his eyes were laughing gleefully at her. Kairi frowned, but then shrugged. 

"Well, little Riku, babies come from big fluffy clouds! You see, there are those wuffyfluffy clouds where lots of babies are and when a mama and a papa want a child, the baby flies down right into their arms."

She smiled proudly at Sora who just shook his head. Riku rolled his eyes and shook his head, too.

"You're lying. Stop telling me stupid stories. If there were babies in clouds, wouldn't we see them?" 

Sora laughed and nodded. "Yeah Kairi, shouldn't we be able to see them? Stop telling Riku fairy tales, tell him how it really works." He smirked and waited for Kairi's response. The girl frowned and crossed her arms. 

"You want to know? Okay..so..um...babies...you know... when...two people...and...they want...and then..." 

Sora broke into a fit of laughter and Kairi turned beet-red, stammering something incoherent. Riku just watched in confusion.

Suddenly, a squeal was audible. And then, something yellow flashed before them and before they knew what was happening, Riku was being pounced by a hyperactive Selphie. 

"Aaaaiiiiiii sooo cute!! You're even cuter than I thought! Awww cute Riku-chan!" she did the same thing as Kairi did before, and Riku began to kick and scream to make her go away. This time, Sora decided to save him and removed Selphie, making her land in the sand. 

"Stop it, he's not a cute teddy bear you can cuddle all you want. He's a person. He's Riku!" He turned to Kairi, attempting to say something but he was cut off by something yellow flashing past him. 

"Huh?" He turned around. 

"Waahhhh monsters! Monsters! I don't want to get eaten! Wahhhh!" Riku was running around in circles as Selphie chased him.

"I'm not going to eat you, Riku-chan! Stay still and let me cuddle and wuddle you!" Selphie jumped and caught Riku, choking him with her embrace. 

"WAHHH!" Riku wailed, trying to kick himself free. Sora decided to help him and ran over to them. 

"Selphie, let him go and I'll buy you as much ice cream as you want." 

"Really?!" the girl shrieked and immediately let go, bouncing beside Kairi with a big smile. Riku frowned and quickly hid behind Sora's leg, holding it tight. Sora blinked and looked down to see Riku hugging his leg, cautiously watching Selphie and Kairi. 

"Now look what you did! He's afraid of you," Sora said, shaking his head. Riku's ears perked up and he let go of Sora, putting his hands to his hips. 

"I'm not afraid! I'm brave!" he proudly exclaimed, but when Kairi and Selphie began to squeal, he quickly ran back behind Sora's leg and hid, squeezing his eyes shut. 

The brunette laughed and picked him up, cradling him in his arms. "All right, now back to the topic. Selphie! You made this crazy potion, don't you know how to reverse it?" 

Selphie cocked her head and stopped bouncing for a second. "Reverse? Why do you want to reverse it?" she asked, obviously confused. Sora rolled his eyes. Sure, little Riku was cute and all, but they had to get things back to normal before their parents found out. What would they tell them? What would his parents *do* with a three-year-old boy? They were almost never at home. 

"Selphie, we have to get him back to normal!" Sora exclaimed, a little too loudly and Riku clutched to him, burying his head in his shirt. "Stop shouting," he whined. Sora frowned and stroked over Riku's hair. "Sorry." 

The girl looked at Kairi and then at Sora. "What are you so worried about? He will be back to normal in a week." Kairi blinked and Selphie shrugged. Sora's eyes widened. 

"What? A week?" 

Selphie nodded. "Yeah. This potion is just for a short period of time. In one week, everything's normal, so stop making such a fuzz out of this and have fun with the little cutie!" Riku whimpered and tried to hide in Sora's shirt, afraid of the drooling yellow thing that wanted his life and the retard who couldn't talk properly. 

Sora sighed in relief. "So it's just one week? Thank God." Looking at the boy in his arms, Sora smiled happily. "Then I'll take care of him since my parents aren't at home this week. As soon as he's normal again he can go back to his own house." 

Selphie and Kairi tried the puppy look on Sora, begging him to let Riku stay with them, but Sora refused. "You wouldn't be able to hold back and probably eat him. It's too dangerous," he said, smirking at them. 

The girls pouted. 

"Hey, there are you!" Tidus and Wakka came running over to them. "What's up? Why's everyone gathered here?" 

Wakka looked at everyone and noticed that Sora was carrying someone. A little boy. With silver hair. He also noticed that Riku was not standing beside Sora or Kairi like always. 

"Where's Riku, ya?" he asked, looking around. Kairi chuckled and Riku looked up at the mention of his name. He looked at the red hair and stared in fascination. His hair was almost as fascinating as Sora's. 

Tidus nudged Wakka. "I think Riku's the little boy." 

Wakka's jaw dropped and he stared at Riku who was staring at his hair. "This kid? What happened?!" 

Sora, Kairi and Selphie groaned. They decided to sit down to tell Tidus and Wakka the story. Riku, who had been sitting on Sora's lap, eventually crawled off him and walked around while the others talked. Tidus listened with interest while Wakka watched the little Riku crouch down to examine a bug. He wanted to laugh as he saw Riku try to poke the bug but withdrew because he was afraid that it would bite him.   
Then, Wakka smirked as he had an idea. Riku had always beaten him when they fought. It was time for a little payback. 

He took his ball and grinned. 

"Hey, Riku! Catch this!" He threw the ball towards the little boy, though only lightly. He didn't want to kill Riku with a hard blow, but a little bump with the ball would serve him right. Riku looked up in confusion. His eyes widened as a huge round thing came flying towards him and yelped as he got knocked over. 

Wakka snickered and the others immediately turned to see what happened. 

Riku slowly sat up, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand. He looked at Wakka, a deep frown on his face and then he turned to look at the ball behind him that had hit him. He cocked his head and then looked back at Wakka. 

"Why did you do that?" he asked, frowning even more. 

Wakka began to feel sorry as he saw that cute little face scrunch up like that. He hoped he hadn't hurt the little boy. 

"Um...I..." Riku's eyes were piercing through him and he began to feel really uncomfortable. Sora decided to help him out and walked over to Riku, picking him up again. 

"He was just trying to play with you, Riku. You're supposed to catch the ball, and then you throw it back," he calmly said, and everyone was surprised how well Sora could handle kids. They looked at the ball and everyone, including Sora, sweatdropped as they saw the size of the ball. It was almost as big as Riku himself, so how should he have caught it? 

Wakka scratched his head and apologized, patting Riku's head slightly. Riku was still a little confused and sat back on his spot on Sora's lap, taking Sora's arms to wrap them around himself. Everyone 'aww'ed and Sora blushed. 

Selphie finished the story and the boys nodded. "So one week and it's over? We should be able to handle that, right?" 

Kairi snorted. "Yeah, _ we_ should. But Sora won't let us do anything! He wants to babysit Riku alone." 

Sora frowned. "I never said that! I said that _ you _ shouldn't babysit him," he said looking at Selphie and Kairi. "Tidus and Wakka can help me." He then looked at the ball and shook his head. 

"No, Tidus can help me." He grinned at Wakka who rolled his eyes and muttered, "I apologized, ya... I didn't mean to hurt him..." 

Everyone chuckled and Riku just watched them in usual bewilderment. He had no clue what Sora and the other big people were talking about. As Sora got up, he took Riku's hand and let him walk beside him. 

"All right. We're leaving now. I'm sure Riku gets hungry soon," Sora said, smiling down at the silver haired boy. Riku let go off Sora's hand and ran over to the ball, picking it up. He had to struggle to hold it since it was so big but when he got it, he turned to Wakka. 

"Catch!" he called, throwing the ball as hard as he could. Of course, it didn't go very far but just flew a few inches. Wakka smiled and picked up the ball, ruffling Riku's hair. 

"Thanks, kid." 

Riku smiled proudly and Sora chuckled while Selphie and Kairi went mad from all the cuteness. 

  


~To be continued.....?~ 

  
~~~~~~~~ 

  


**Ending notes:  
** Ouch. Riku got knocked over with a ball. I wrote that out of experience, I got knocked over with a giant ball when I was 3 lol.  
Anyway...Riku hasn't asked any questions in this chapter...but the 'why' questions will come eventually...  
One week to babysit little Riku, can Sora handle this?   
Next Chapter : Riku finds the Adult Channel on TV and starts to ask Sora about it... ehehehe ^.~ 


	4. The evening

**

Disclaimer:  


** I own this fanfic! Yessss! But I do not own the characters of Kingdom Hearts or anything else -_- ****

Warnings:  
Sleepy, overworked author alert. The chapter shouldn't be too bad, though... ****

Author's Ranting:   
Uhhh alll rightyy... This chapter is weird. *shrugs* Hm.... it's reaally late here and I have to get up early tomorrow so I had to hurry writing this. What's there to say? Just read the chapter! 

  


~~~~~~~~ 

  


"Soo, what do you wanna eat?" Sora reached his house and planned on setting Riku down on the kitchen counter again like last time so he could look for something to eat. Riku, however, refused to let go off him and clung to him like a vest. 

"Uh, Riku?" Sora asked, trying to shake the little boy off. No matter what he did, Riku didn't let go, almost like he was glued to him. Sora frowned and went over to the fridge while Riku just stuck like a bur. 

"How about instant noodles? I know it's not really healthy but I can't cook and mom's not here so..." Sora stopped talking as he noticed that Riku was gnawing at his shoulder _ again _. 

"Riku..." he groaned and the little boy snickered, intentionally growling like a little dog. 

"O~kay, little pup. Let's eat noodles today." 

Riku barked and grinned. "I wanna watch TV!" he then called, jumping off Sora before he dashed off into the living room. Sora blinked, sighing in exasperation. Were little kids really that unpredictable? He couldn't remember whether he was like that when he was young. 

Sora shrugged it off and went to prepare their dinner. Two cups of instant noodles, he should be able to handle that. He stared at the instructions and frowned. How come he had never done this before? Oh right, his mother always cooked for him. He had never done anything on his own regarding household, nor had he ever taken care of someone. Sora sighed. No sense in worrying, taking care of Riku couldn't be more difficult than spending time with him as usual. 

He eventually managed to get the noodles ready and went into the living room, balancing the two cups on a tray he found in a drawer. He chuckled at the thought that he had never ever looked into those drawers in the kitchen before. When he reached the room, he found Riku on the floor on his hands and knees, eyes wide in innocence while his lips were drawn to a pout as he frowned. 

Sora smiled and set down the cups of noodles on the small table near the couch before he turned to see what Riku was watching. 

Riku cocked his head, looking fascinated and confused at the same time while Sora gaped in shock. For a few seconds, he was too shocked to even breathe and Riku's face scrunched up as he watched further. He seemed to crawl closer to the TV to get a better look, tilting his head to the side in confusion. 

Sora finally snapped out of it and jumped towards Riku, trying to cover his eyes. 

"Ahh Sora, what are you doing?!" Riku's tiny voice exclaimed, arms whirling around in a try to remove Sora's hands from his eyes. 

"Riku, you're not supposed to watch this. Your noodles are ready, come here and eat," Sora said, trying to stay calm although his face was flushed as he cast a glance at the current pprogram. He let go off Riku and pushed him lightly towards the table. Riku pouted and got up, running over to where the cups were standing. 

Sora took a deep breath and rubbed his face to cool it and quickly changed to another channel, blushing furiously. Riku looked at Sora, standing helplessly at the table. The brunette looked over to him, staring a little, before he realized that Riku needed to be fed. 

"Oh." He went over to Riku, picked him up with one arm and took the cup of noodles into his vacant hand. They sat down on the couch where Riku sat next to Sora, short legs stretched out. Sora began to feed Riku as the voices of the TV echoed through the room. Some kind of family movie was running, harmless enough for a three-year-old to watch. Different from what Riku had been watching just a moment ago. How did he get onto this channel anyway? 

Sora frowned as he continued to feed Riku. His parents had locked the adult channel so Sora couldn't watch it. Not that he ever _ wanted _ to watch it. He would be way too embarrassed to look at this. Sora snapped out of his thoughts as Riku tugged on his arm. 

"Huh?" 

Riku had his arms crossed and looked like he was in deep thought. Then he looked up at Sora and spoke. 

"What were they doing?" he asked, looking thoughtful. 

Sora blinked before he realized what Riku meant. He gave him a nervous smile and bit his lip, thinking of something to say. 

"Um, they were...they were playing! Yeah. Playing." He hoped that Riku was still too young to notice that he was blushing like mad in this very moment. The silver haired boy raised his eyebrows. He wrinkled his nose and shook his head. 

"But they were making strange noises. Like it hurt or something. Do you think they were really playing?" 

The innocence in Riku's voice made it all the worse for Sora and he felt the embarrassment heat his cheeks. 

"Heh, ehh...let's eat a little more, hm? Look, here comes the plane!" he held out the spoon with the noodles and directed it into the boy's mouth, pretending it was a plane. Riku seemed to be distracted by it and continued eating without asking any questions. 

The TV was still running and Sora nervously glanced at the film, checking if it was still all right to watch. 

When Riku was finished, Sora got his own cup of noodles which of course was already cold but he didn't care. He ate while Riku lay on the couch, nearly dozing off. His eye-lids got heavy and he almost closed his eyes. Just in that moment, Sora finished dinner and got up, causing the little boy to wake up again. 

Sora turned to Riku to see him frown slightly. "Oh? Sorry, were you asleep? I'll just throw this away and then it's bedtime." He smiled and patted Riku's head before he went off to the kitchen. When he came back he saw that Riku was awake again. He was standing in front of the TV, holding the remote control in his hands. 

Sora paled as he heard the sounds. He closed his eyes, praying that he was just iimagining things but when he turned to look at the screen, _ it _ was there again. 

"Riku! Stop changing the channel!" Sora yelled, surprising the little boy. Riku dropped the remote and frowned at Sora, then looked back at the TV. 

"See? That doesn't look like playing!" Riku insisted, pointing at the screen. Sora's ears felt like burning up and he quickly grabbed his friend and ran with him into the bathroom. 

"They are playing. It's a game. And now I'll brush your teeth and then you go to bed." 

Riku sulked with crossed arms and stood there like a stone, not moving. Sora rolled his eyes and took out a new toothbrush. 

"Come on, open your mouth," he said as he added the toothpaste to the brush. Riku stuck out his tongue and shook his head. He was being such a brat right now. Probably because he was tired. Sora could see that was fighting the sleep in his eyes and that probably made him so stubborn. Sora sighed and thought of a way to make him stop this. 

"Riku..." he began and the boy heaved a sigh as though _ Sora _ was the annoying brat. He rolled his eyes and waved him off. 

"Fine, fine. Do it and go to bed, you brat," Riku said in such a mocking tone that Sora almost thought the 15-year old Riku was talking, instead of the little boy. 

He finally opened his mouth and Sora brushed his teeth, carefully not to hurt him. It was awkward to brush someone else's teeth but Riku couldn't possibly brush his teeth alone. He couldn't even eat properly. Sora smiled as he picked Riku up to let him rinse. He held him just above the wash basin and Riku spit out the remaining toothpaste, grimacing and making noises. 

Sora chuckled and gave him a glass of water. "Here, rinse your mouth with this." 

Riku did as he was told and stuck out his tongue after Sora had put him down. 

"It tastes horrible!" The little boy exclaimed, fanning his tongue in disgust. Sora laughed and ruffled his friend's hair, making him glare at him. Maybe he should get some children's toothpaste for Riku. 

After that, the brunette took his friend to his room, placing him on the bed and pulling the covers over him. Riku kicked them off and sat up. 

"I'm not tired!" he snapped, rubbing his eyes as he pouted stubbornly. Sora sighed and sat down beside Riku. 

"Don't try to fool me, Riku. You are tired. Now go to sleep, I'll stay here until you're asleep, all right? Come on now, lie down." 

Riku sulked and refused to move but Sora eventually managed to push him down. He sat there, running his hand through Riku's hair in a slow motion, lulling the boy to sleep. Riku's eyes, however, were wide open and he seemed to be wide awake. 

"Ne Sora?" he asked, shifting slightly on the bed. Sora looked down, still running his hands through the silky hair. 

"Hm?" He had given up on forcing Riku to go to sleep. The boy would fall asleep soon, he thought. It wouldn't take that long. Riku looked up at him with his beautiful aqua eyes. 

"Can we play what they played?" 

Sora's hand stopped immediately and his eyes widened as he nearly choked and began to blush like there was no tomorrow. 

"Uhhh...." he stammered, shaking slightly. "Um...n-no. We can't. That's only for adults," he answered, feeling his mouth getting incredibly dry. 

"Oh," Riku replied. He yawned and closed his eyes, and Sora felt relieved as thought Riku was going to sleep now. 

But he was wrong. The silver haired boy's eyes opened again and he looked at Sora with questioning eyes. 

"What's an a-dul?" he asked, pronouncing the word as if it was some very difficult foreign word. Sora chuckled and almost felt like going 'aww'. Riku was so sweet, even though the situation was majorly embarrassing for Sora. 

"Adults are grown ups. You know, like mom and dad. They are adults," Sora replied, smiling gently at his friend. 

Riku blinked. 

"Oh." 

He shut his mouth, seeming to think. Then he spoke again. 

"So mom and dad play this game?" 

Sora bit his lips as he felt the heat rise into his cheek. He did _ not _ want to imagine anything like this right now. 

"Yeah..I guess they do..." he murmured, rubbing his cheeks nervously. 

Riku nodded. "So when I'm a dad, I can play too, right? And when we're both..um...a-du-lts...can we play it together?" 

That did it. Sora felt his head explode in embarrassment and he covered his mouth to prevent himself from screaming. This was definitely the most embarrassing conversation he ever had, and the fact that it was _ Riku _ to whom he was talking only made it worse. The fact that Riku had just asked if they would _ play the game _ together was driving Sora crazy. 

Riku watched Sora's antics in confusion and backed away into the pillow. 

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning at Sora's behavior. 

The brunette panted, trying to regain his calmness and he laughed nervously. "Oh nothing, nothing. Um, no, we can't play the game, sorry. You're supposed to play with a girl." He paused, trying to think of a way to stop this. 

"But I think your mom and dad should explain that to you," he quickly added, hoping that Riku would drop the subject. 

The silver haired boy sat up and crawled onto Sora until he was face to face with him. 

"But why don't _ you _ explain it to me?" he whined, looking directly into Sora's eyes. 

Sora was on the edge of passing out and he didn't even know why. Of course, the subject was horribly embarrassing for him, but what really made him nervous was that Riku was asking all this. And he was asking everything in that innocent voice of a three-year-old child and _ that _ made Sora really nervous. 

"Hey Riku, I'm really tired. Let's just go to sleep and I'll explain to you tomorrow. Is that all right?" 

The silver haired boy narrowed his eyes and put a finger to his chin, considering Sora's words. Then he nodded and reached out to get a hold on Sora's ears. He wrinkled his nose. 

"They're warm," he said a little puzzled. Then he pulled Sora's face closer to his own and gave him a clumsy, wet smooch on the lips. He giggled as he withdrew and jumped off Sora into the blankets, closing his eyes tightly. 

Sora sat there as though he was in a trance. Then he blinked, frowned, and blinked again. He looked down at Riku who seemed to be fast asleep. He frowned again. He yawned and realized that he really _ was _ tired. Looking at Riku's sleeping form he decided to sleep in his parent's bed. Yawning again, he slid off the bed and quietly walked towards the door. He turned off the light and opened the door but it ccreaked as he opened it and he felt Riku stir on the bed. 

"Sora?" 

Sora turned around, seeing that Riku was sitting again, rubbing his eyes. 

"Yes?" he impatiently answered, hoping that Riku would just fall asleep again. 

The silver haired boy frowned at the tone in Sora's voice and looked down. 

"I'm thirsty..." he murmured, climbing out of the bed. He went over to Sora and clung to his leg, looking up at him from beneath his eyelashes. "Are you mad at me?" he quietly asked, pouting slightly. 

Sora blinked and then smiled. He crouched down to Riku and shook his head. "Of course not. How could I?" His smile broadened as he saw Riku's lips form a smile. 

"I'll get you a glass of water, all right?" 

Riku nodded and let go of Sora, waiting patiently until Sora got back. Taking the glass into both of his hands he drank until it was empty and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Sora nodded and patted him on the head before he turned around and walked out while Riku hopped into his bed again. 

  
Sora passed the living room to find the TV still running. He took a deep bbreath andpicked up the remote. His fingers went over the buttons but he stopped himself, shaking his head. 'What am I doing here?' he asked himself, quickly turning it off before walking into the bathroom to brush his teeth and go to bed. 

He fell asleep rather quickly, lying sprawled on his parents four poster. However, he awoke after some time as he felt something cling to him, and it was not the blanket. He blinked a few times to adjust his eyes and eventually saw that Riku was snuggling up to him. He would have said something, but Sora felt too tired to care and wrapped his arms around the little boy, falling right back to sleep. 

  


~To be continued.....?~ 

  
~~~~~~~~ 

  


**Ending notes:  
** About the thing at the beginning... the brother of a friend is 3 years right now and he's playing dog all the time.. biting me and barking... heh... cute little brat.   
Anyway, I'm really dead if I don't go to sleep now....I hope this chapter is ok since I wrote it in a rush -_- 


	5. Let's go shopping!

**

Disclaimer:  


** thA l33t I-I3ARtl3$$ 0WI\IZ U   
or something like that... lol  
But I don't own Kingdom Hearts...and you know it! Don't play dumb! I know you know it! I know it!! Really! I'm so sure!   
*gets dragged away by nice men in white* ****

Warnings:  
Can't think of any right now...um...a mentally disturbed author is typing this story...warned ya! ****

Author's Ranting:   
Ahh I'm sorry to keep you waiting for so long. I wrote the first half of the chapter one week ago but I suddenly had a lack of ideas how to continue. Well, luckily I did find something to write... ok, have fun..I guess.   
Ah! I also would like to say that this story has absolutely no plot. I guess. I mean, all that happens is Sora taking care of Riku who is doing lots of cute stuff. But there's not going to be a really deep meaning in this or anything... but I guess you know that...um... *gets dragged away once again* 

  


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The next morning, Sora awoke with the feeling of something poking his mouth. He frowned but refused to open his eyes. The poking didn't stop and eventually became more violent, causing Sora's eyes to snap open. 

"What the...?" He blinked a few times and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes to see Riku already sitting on him, poking his mouth with a pen. 

"Lemme write something! Lemme write something!" Riku's voice rang as he poked Sora even more, ignoring the fact that he couldn't even write his own name. 

The brunette groaned and pushed the little boy away, turning to his side to ignore him. The sun wasn't even up yet! How could Riku be awake? Sora sighed and nuzzled back into the pillow, ignoring the protesting pokes he got from Riku. 

"Get uuuup! Get up! Get up! Get up! I wanna play!" Riku whined directly into Sora's ear in his high-pitched, annoying, child-like voice. Sora groaned and shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. 

"I'm so boooored! Play with me!!" Riku screamed, punching Sora's shoulder. He threw the pen away and began pounding with his tiny fists, hoping that Sora would finally get up. 

And it worked. After a while, Sora growled and sat up, holding Riku in place. 

"Riku. It's..." he squinted at the clock, "It's 5 o'clock! The sun is not even up yet so stay in bed and be quiet! I want to sleep!" He grunted and scowled at the little boy to emphasize his statement. Riku merely glared at him and crossed his arms. 

Sora sighed again and let go of the boy, falling back onto the pillow. He closed his eyes while he felt Riku settle beside him, and smiled in content. Thankfully Riku was reasonable... 

Sora shifted to lie on his stomach. He sighed. It was uncomfortable. He shifted again to lie on his back with his hand draped over his eyes. He sighed again. 

A few moments later he rushed into a sitting position and glared at the wall before him. Riku lay beside him spread eagle, watching him. Sora rubbed his eyes and forehead, glaring and scowling at nothing in particular. Then he looked at the window and he narrowed his eyes as he saw that the sun was slowly coming up. 

His eyes turned towards the clock on the wall. It said ten past five. He shook his head, then turned to look at Riku. The silver haired boy looked at him with an innocent expression, arms crossed behind his head, legs spread apart, lips pouty. Sora fought back the urge to take him into his arms and cuddle him since he knew that it would scare Riku. He didn't want to be another Selphie or Kairi for him. 

He just sat back, leaning against the headboard. "Now I can't sleep anymore, thank you very much," he muttered, resting his hands in his lap. He heard Riku shift beside him and then saw that the little boy went to hug him, placing his head on his stomach. 

"'m sooorry," he whispered, kissing Sora's stomach. The brunette squirmed. 

"Hey! That tickles," he protested and Riku giggled. Then Sora smiled and grabbed Riku's arms, pulling him up to face him. Riku giggled and protested half-heartedly but eventually stilled, looking at Sora with his adorable big eyes. 

"You little brat," Sora whispered, cradling Riku in his arms. The silver haired boy sighed as he snuggled up to his new pillow and let his tiny hands grasp Sora's shirt. 

They remained like this for a few minutes, but Riku eventually wriggled out of Sora's arms and bounced off the bed, leaving through the door. Sora heaved a sigh of exasperation and forced himself to follow the boy. 

Riku ran into the kitchen and stood before the fridge, frowning at the problem before him. Sora eventually came into the kitchen and smiled as he saw Riku trying to open the fridge. He was jumping up and down, trying to reach the handle. 

"What? Don't tell me you're hungry!" The brunette threw his arms into the air and shook his head in disbelief. No one could be hungry at five o'clock. And he thought kids didn't eat much, well, he was wrong. 

"I want ice-cream!" Riku declared while he tried to get a chair. He was using all his strength, pulling on the chair standing at the table but the chair seemed to be stronger than him. 

"Ah...mm...Sora...lend me a hand!" he demanded, kicking the chair with his foot. Sora rolled his eyes and patted Riku's head. 

"No ice cream for you, little one. You get a serious breakfast like..." Sora remembered that he had absolutely nothing except for cereal. "Like cereal. There you go." He rubbed his eyes wearily and began to pour some cereal into a bowl before he added the milk. Riku sulked and went back into the bedroom to lie down. 

"Hey!" Sora called as he saw the little boy wandering off. He sighed and took the bowl with him in case Riku wanted to eat in bed. When he reached the room he saw Riku lying on the bed with his arms crossed, looking stubbornly at the ceiling. 

"I don't want you stupid cereal, I want ice-cream...." he muttered, thrusting his lower lip forward to an adorable pout. Sora sighed and sat down beside the boy. 

"All right, come on. I don't have ice cream and cereal's good too. I promise we go shopping today and I can also buy you some clothes. Even if it's just for a week, I'll make sure it's a good week." He reached out and caressed Riku's face, making the little boy close his eyes. Although Riku tried to resist, his breathing became slower and he seemed to doze off as Sora continued to caress him and stroke his hair. He uncrossed his arms and they slowly slipped to his sides as his whole body relaxed, falling asleep. 

Sora smiled and shook his head. No matter how annoying Riku was, he was still extremely cute. 

~ 

As Sora promised, they went shopping as soon as Riku was up again. It was nearly noon now and they were in a store that sold clothes for kids and also had various toys. Of course, Riku was more interested in the toys than anything else and begged Sora to buy him the Sephiroth action figure along with a miniature version of the Highwind. 

"Pleaaaaase! Pleaaaase! Pleaaaaase! I'll be a good boy, I promise! If you buy them for me I'll love you foooreeeeveeeer!" He bounced on his feet, pleading with Sora as he used the puppy eye look on the older boy. 

"Please...?" he quietly asked, carefully, as if his life depended on this one question. 

Sora heaved a long sigh and looked into his wallet. He sighed. Too bad his parents weren't around to give him money, he had to use all of his savings to pay for the little kid. Not that he didn't want to. For Riku, he'd pay all the money he had. It was just that...Riku was so expensive! 

"All right, all right, you'll get your toys," Sora answered, walking to the counter to pay. Riku squealed and jumped onto Sora's back, strangling him almost in the process. 

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thaaaank you!" 

Sora chuckled and reached out to pry his friend off. "You're welcome, Riku," he answered as he set Riku back down on the floor. He paid and gave the toys to Riku who held them and stared at them for a while. Sora watched him and wondered what he would do now. Riku's gaze lifted and he looked up to Sora. 

"Thank you very much, Sora," he said in his most polite voice, bowing his head slightly. Sora blinked and laughed, remembering that Riku's parents had been very strict when he was young. They always told him to be polite and scolded him when he didn't behave like this. It was funny, though, that Riku seemed to remember this. 

Sora patted the younger boy's head and turned to look at the clothes. 

"Say, Riku...what do you want to wear? Are there any clothes you like?" He scanned the store for a moment before he turned to Riku. When he saw the silver haired boy he shook his head and smiled. 

"Dschhhhh here I come! Let me take you to the Lifestream!" Riku was trying to imitate the voice of *The One Winged Angel* as he played with his new toys. He let the Highwind fly, fleeing from the evil Sephiroth, making all the necessary noises and sounds. 

"Riku!" Sora called, tapping the little boy on the head. 

"Huh?" He looked confused for a moment, as if he was wondering where the tapping had come from and then tilted his head up to see Sora. The brunette waved at him, telling him to quit playing for a second. 

"Now look, what clothes do you want? Here are many things, tell me what you like." 

The silver haired boy pouted as he placed his new toys neatly on the floor and looked around the room. Boring, he thought. Who needed clothes? He wanted to play now! His eyes wandered through the room until they came to rest on something. His eyes grew wide and a smile formed on his lips as he spotted *it*. 

"I want that!" he exclaimed, pointing at a navy blue baseball cap. Sora turned into the direction he was pointing at and raised his eyebrows. Then he smiled and scratched his head. 

"Don't you think it's a little too big for you?" He took the cap and looked at it. Hell, it was even too big for Sora. 

But Riku shook his head vigorously, pulling on Sora's arm, making him lower it so he could take the cap. He put it on and it slipped over his face. 

"It's not to big..." he mumbled, thrusting his hands forward to feel where he was going since he couldn't see anything. Sora laughed and picked him up before he bumped into something. Riku squealed and struggled to get free but Sora was stronger and eventually took the cap away. 

"No, if you want a baseball cap I'll buy you one in your size. But first look at the clothes...they're more important." 

Riku looked around the store but didn't seem interested in anything. He shrugged and leaned his head against Sora's shoulder, drawing random patterns on his chest. Sora frowned a little but then decided to just pick something he thought would fit his friend. He let Riku continue to play while he picked three absolutely adorable sets of mini jeans and t-shirts. He also bought a little baseball cap with a wolf saying 'Rawwwr' on it. Sora thought it would look cute on Riku. 

Seeing that Riku was still occupied with Sephiroth and the Highwind, he went over to the counter once again to pay for the clothes. 

"Aww, you're buying a completely new wardrobe, huh?" The shopkeeper asked. She was a young woman, maybe around thirty. Sora nodded absently as he placed the clothes on the counter, eyes fixed on Riku. He couldn't have Riku destroy anything in this store. With Riku running around and playing like this, Sora feared that he would ruin something that belonged to the store, and Sora would have to pay for it. 

"Doesn't seem to be your brother," the woman commented as she watched Riku, too. 

Sora turned to her and smiled. "Nope, he's not." 

The shopkeeper put a hand to her heart and sighed dreamily. "Aw how cute! So you're just babysitting him, huh? Trying to earn some extra money?" 

Sora smiled and shook his head. "Ah, no. I don't get money for this, actually..." 'I'm losing money because of him,' he thought, but kept smiling. 

The woman put a hand to her cheek. "Ahh so you're doing this voluntarily? Awww this is so nice of you!" She seemed to be totally fascinated by Sora and began to revel. 

"It's really seldom to see that someone plays babysitter without demanding money. Most babysitter are really expensive, too! They don't even take care of your child, they just let them play on their own." 

Sora nodded again absently and turned to watch if Riku was still all right. If the woman could just stop talking and quickly let him pay so he could take Riku home. He was too nervous and too worried that something might happen especially now that Riku was getting really caught up in playing. 

"Don't get too rough, Riku!" he called, frowning in worry. 

The woman chuckled. "Don't worry, he won't ruin anything. This store is made for kids, lots of children come here everyday so there's nothing priceless like a Ming Vase," she said and checked the prices of the clothes. 

Sora sighed and nodded, still unable to take his eyes off Riku. He wasn't that worried anymore but he still felt like he needed to watch him. What if Riku hurt himself while playing. Sora suddenly noticed that he was really thinking a lot and worrying about Riku as though he was his father or mother. He chuckled. 

The shopkeeper finally checked all the prices and showed him the bill. 

"You're really good with kids, I can sense it. So, if you're vacant..." 

Riku's ears perked up and he stopped playing, turning to look at Sora and the woman. 

Sora smiled and shook his head, attempting to say that he wasn't really a babysitter, but the woman cut him off. 

"My kids are really nice! They won't make much trouble and if you could take care of them for a while I could finally go to see a movie again, I'll pay you of course!" She rambled on about her kids and how perfect little angels they were and that she needed some time off, while Sora tried to explain that he wasn't interested. 

Suddenly Riku was standing beside Sora, toys dropped to the ground. 

"He's mine!" The boy yelled and hugged Sora's leg, scowling at the shopkeeper behind the counter, which he couldn't even see properly due to his height. Sora blinked and looked down at Riku. 

The woman blinked, too and then laughed. 

"Aw, of course he's yours. Right, I shouldn't have asked." She smiled and reached for the candy box, wanting to give Riku a lollipop which the silver haired boy refused. 

"He's mine! You can't have him! Don't take him away!" Riku insisted, scowling even more at the woman. 

Sora smiled and shook his head in an apologetic way at the shopkeeper. Then he turned to Riku and picked him up into his arms. Riku sulked and refused to look at anyone. 

"It's all right. I'm not going anywhere, you don't have to share me. I'm completely yours, really. And this nice lady is offering you candy, don't you want to take it?" He tapped the little boy's nose with his finger and stroked his cheek. 

"You okay?" he asked, leaning in so that their foreheads were touching. Riku made a whining noise and pushed his forehead against Sora's, grinning again as they pushed against each other to see who was stronger. Of course, Sora gave in after a few seconds and Riku proudly proclaimed that he was the strongest man in the universe. The shopkeeper and Sora laughed at this and Riku frowned. 

"Stop laughing at me," he pouted, trying to hide his face in Sora's shirt. The woman smiled and sighed. 

"He really loves you, just like you're one of his parents." 

Sora blushed slightly at the comment and quickly left the store after he thanked the woman. 

  
They went into another store to get Riku's long awaited ice-cream and Sora also took the chance to buy something edible so they didn't have to live off cereal. Of course, the only thing he could buy were instant noodles and other fast food since Sora had no idea to cook. They couldn't even ask Kairi or Selphie to cook for them since their parents would probably ask what they were doing. And once someone found out about Riku's little problem, it would certainly cause chaos. The first day was almost over then, and Sora smiled at the thought of having Riku wear the things he had bought for him. Especially the baseball cap would look cute on him. 

  


~To be continued.....?~ 

  
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**Ending notes:  
** I kind of rushed the ending. But I just had to finish this chapter since I had written the beginning one week ago... I just couldn't find a good point to end this chappy but now I've finally found something. Um...Sora's starting to think like a mother lol... worrying over Riku all the time and stuff... isn't it cute? And I think... yup, maybe I'll have Sora turn into a kid once Riku's back to normal so they switch roles heh heh That would be cute. Ok, until the next chapter, then... Ja ne! 


	6. Exhausting!

**

Disclaimer:  


** If I owned Kingdom Hearts I wouldn't write a disclaimer, now would I?

****

Warnings:  
I'm gonna ramble a lot in the author notes now! ****

Author's Ranting:   
I'm sorry. I hope you all forgive me. It's been over 2 weeks since I last update. But you gotta understand!! My life's a rollercoaster right now! I don't even have time to breath, eat or sleep! I know, I know, writing is more important than any of this..so please forgive me!  
I'm really trying to do this right! So....this chapter...we have 2 days! Yup, if you remember, there's been 2 days over 5 chapters now... first day when Sora found chibi Riku, brought him to Kairi and the others and went back home. Second day, shopping.   
Now it's evening, they got back from shopping... So it's one evening and then the next day... 2 days...  
Gods, what am I rambling here? Just read it! Read it read it read it and pleaaase forgive poor little me! 

Oh, and one more thing! I couldn't proof-read it and I have no beta-reader at the moment so please bear with me! Thanks! 

  


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Sora and Riku came back home after a day of shopping. The brunet was more than exhausted even though Riku had been quite well-mannered during most of the time. Of course, there would be situations like at the candy store or ice-cream booth where Riku would scream so loudly for sweets, that people turned to look at them. Sora tried his best to fulfill all of Riku's wishes so there would be no screaming and staring. 

Now they were finally home and Sora threw himself onto the couch, letting Riku run around on his own. As long as he was in the house, nothing could go wrong. The door was locked, just in case Riku found a way to reach the doorknob. Sora heaved a sigh and rolled over to lie on his stomach. He closed his eyes and slowly drifted off into a state of half-sleeping. He felt his body finally relax, he had been tense the whole day. Riku was sure exhausting. 

He remained like this for a while, idly wondering what Riku was doing, now that it was so quiet. Maybe he was playing with his toys. Sora smiled as he remembered the happy look on Riku's face as he got them. While he was thinking of Riku as a child, an image of the grown Riku entered his mind. The eyes were still the same. Even though Sora remembered Riku looking anything but innocent, he realized that the eyes had the same glint when he looked at Sora. 

Sora blushed. It felt like adoration, that look Riku was giving him all the time. At first he thought it was because Riku was so small and Sora took care of him, but now that he thought about it, Riku had always looked at him with those eyes, even when he beat him in running, fighting or anything else. It was strange, though. Why would Riku admire, even adore Sora? 

As if on cue, the silver haired boy came trotting into the living room, rubbing his eyes. Sora turned his gaze to watch him as he came over to him, curling into a ball as he lay on the couch, next to Sora. 

The brunet chuckled and reached out to stroke over Riku's hair. 

"I guess it's time for bed, then...go to my room and sleep," he softly said, loving the fluffiness of Riku's hair. 

Riku immediately uncurled himself and moved to sit up. 

"Not tired," he whined, shaking his head vigorously. Sora chuckled and withdrew his hand, tilting his head to one side. 

"Not tired? Weren't you just about to fall asleep here?" he asked, smiling at Riku's pouty face. And the eyes, he noted, they were still looking at him in that strange way. Not that he didn't like it, it was just a little strange now that he thought about it. 

Riku yawned after struggling to hold it back. The brunet raised his eyebrows and nodded once as if to say 'I told you so' and Riku snorted, looking away. He sat like that for a few moments, determined not to move one inch. 

Sora shook his head and reached out to pick him up but he was surprised as he felt how heavy Riku was. He wrinkled his nose in confusion and reeled back, looking at the boy. 

Riku had made himself as heavy as possible, clutching to the couch with all his strength. He was _ really _ determined not to move. 

"What's wrong with you? I can see that you're tired, why don't you go to sleep?" Sora asked, a frown forming on his forehead. Riku didn't answer and just kept sitting there like a stone. The older boy sighed and scratched his head. What should he do? Once again, Sora tried to take him into his arms but Riku struggled as though his life depended on it and Sora let go. 

"What's the matter with you?!" 

Sora blinked and covered his mouth as soon as the words left his mouth. He hadn't meant to sound so angry. He hoped that Riku wasn't upset now. When he looked at Riku, he saw that the boy was sill not moving, frowning as though he was worrying over something. 

Sora frowned, too and bit his lip. 

"Um, sorry...I didn't mean to shout," he quietly said, running a hand through his hair. He could see that Riku was tired, so why wouldn't he go to sleep? Of course, Sora was tired, too and he wanted to go to sleep. 

Suddenly, Riku moved and looked up at Sora. 

"I don't wanna go to your room. It's ugly," he muttered, a sulky expression on his face. 

Sora raised his eyebrows and blinked. "What?" What was that? Riku didn't like his room and didn't want to sleep in it? 

Riku gave him a strange look and then dropped his gaze to his hands that were resting in his lap. 

"Your room is ugly and stupid," he repeated, although it sounded like he didn't mean it. Sora scratched his head and thought for a while. What could be so ugly about his room? Riku had always liked it there when they had sleepovers. He remembered the two of them fooling around at night until Sora's mother came in to scold them, only to find that they were sleeping peacefully. But as soon as his mother left the room, they started giggling and continued playing. 

They had a lot of fun together. 

Sora's eyes widened. 

"Ah, of course!" It finally hit him. He smiled, patting Riku's head. The night before, when Sora had lay down in his parents' bed, since Riku was occupying his, Riku had come into the room to sleep with him. Now Riku was a three-year-old boy and probably didn't like sleeping alone in a dark room. When they were little they used to share the bed, too. 

"All right, then. We'll go to my parents' room, just like last night. Is that room less ugly?" He looked down at Riku, invitingly holding out his arms. 

The silver haired boy's eyes lit up and in a spilt of a second, he jumped right into Sora's arms, hugging him around the neck. Sora smiled and inwardly melted at the lovely feeling. He might have started to cuddle and wuddle the little boy just like Selphie wanted to do it all the time. Noting that the embrace had loosened, though, Sora stroked over Riku's head and saw that his eyes were already closed. 

"Cute," he chuckled, taking Riku into the bedroom. 

When he wanted to set him down, Riku wouldn't let go off him, even though he looked like he was fast asleep. 

"Riku? Let go for a while. I need to change....and you should change, too, I've especially bought you some cute pajamas," Sora whispered, hoping the boy would wake up. 

Riku, however, was awake but still didn't want to let go. He stuck to Sora like glue and the older boy sighed. 

"Riku, let's change into pajamas, I promise I'm not going anywhere. Just let go for one second." 

Riku cracked one eye open and looked suspiciously at Sora. 

"One second?" his tiny voice asked. Sora snickered and shrugged. 

"If you let go, you'll see. I'll be as fast as I can, all right?" 

After thinking it over, Riku eventually agreed and reculantly let go, letting Sora change his clothes and then change his own. Of course it took more than just one second and Riku scowled at Sora, for he felt like Sora lied to him. 

"Oh come on," Sora chuckled, taking Riku back into his arms as they lay down on the bed. The little boy quickly snuggled up to Sora like he was a big teddy bear and smiled as he closed his eyes. 

Sora used his hand to run it through Riku's hair, relaxing him even further until the boy fell asleep. Smiling sleepily, Sora pulled Riku a little closer and closed his eyes, too. 

Finally, peace. 

~~~ 

The next morning came far too early and Sora was so tired that he already began to have rings around his eyes. Riku was active and demanding as ever, reminding Sora more and more of the grown Riku. As he watched him and played with him he realized how many similiarities there were between chibi Riku and the older Riku. He noticed things that he had never noticed before. He also started wondering if Riku would remember the things that had happened once he got back to normal. 

"What's this?" Riku asked, pointing at a photo hanging on the wall. Sora snapped out of his thoughts and looked at it. 

"Oh. That's our first boat. We built it when we were little...all by ourselves," Sora answered, wondering if Riku would understand this. He couldn't remember those things, could he? 

Riku looked at another picture. "And what's this?" 

Sora smiled. "That's the treehouse on the play island." 

The little boy shrugged and proceeded to look at the photos and generally at everything in the room. He eventually climbed onto Sora, having the older boy carrying him. 

"Hey Sora," he suddenly piped up, tugging on Sora's cheek. The older boy caught his wrist to stop him from pinching and pulling on his cheek and lightly smacked his head. 

"What?" he answered, swatting Riku's tiny hands away as the little boy tried to pinch him again. Riku giggled and tried his best to reach Sora's face, but the older boy was simply faster. Sora chuckled. Finally he was the faster one. Riku had always been mocking him, telling him that he was slow as a cow. 

"Sooora!" Riku whined, flailing his arms around so that Sora nearly dropped him. 

"Stop squirming around or I'll drop you!" Sora threatened, grinning at Riku's sulking face as the little boy stopped immediately. 

"Not fair," he mumbled, sticking his tongue out. "But Sora!" he began again, looking at his friend with big round eyes. 

Sora smiled and gave in, melting at the pure sweetness in his arms. How did Riku manage to be so cute? 

"I wanna eat ice-cream now! You bought it yesterday! I know we have it!" Riku wriggled out of Sora's arms and plopped down to the floor before he dashed towards the kitchen. Sora blinked at the spot Riku had been standing at and then winced as he heard a crash in the kitchen. 

"Uh-oh..." Sora quickly followed the little boy to see if anything had happened to him. When he entered the kitchen he saw Riku sitting on the floor, biting his quivering lip. 

"Riku? What happened?" The brunet hurried to the huddled up mass on the floor and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy to stop him from sobbing. 

"Riku?" he softly asked, noting that the silver haired boy's knee was bleeding. His eyes widened and he quickly pulled away to inspect the wound. The little boy swallowed the sobs and tried to be brave. He clenched his small hands and gulped. 

"I tripped...over that..." He pointed at the miniature version of the Highwind, one of his new toys. Sora inwardly rolled his eyes, remembering how often his mother had told him not to let things lie around on the floor. But he wasn't going to give Riku any of these lectures. As he looked at his friend, he just wanted to kiss his pain away. 

Sora blinked at his thoughts. For the first time, he noticed how infatuated he was with the little boy. But it wasn't only the little boy, it was Riku himself he cared for. No matter how cute and little the boy was, he was still Riku, and this was the reason he cared so much. 

"Can you stand up? I'll clean the wound and then it's going to be all right." Sora helped Riku up and set him on the kitchen table, telling him to wait there while he got the first aid kit from the bathroom. 

Riku patiently waited and grimaced every now and then, but never said anything about the pain. As Sora came back he had to smile again, seeing that the little boy was bravely fighting the tears. Riku would never admit that he was in pain, he always acted like it was nothing, saying that he would take it like a man. 

"Okay, Riku. This will hurt a little but it's only for a second. We need to disinfect the wound." He patted the smaller boy on the head to reassure him and tenderly began to brush the cotton wad over Riku's knee. 

The silver haired boy squirmed and made a face. Sora sighed and tried to distract him by ruffling his hair, and it worked. Riku was soon pouting and pushed against Sora's hand, trying to make it stop messing with his hair. Sora chuckled and continued to annoy the boy until he was done sterilizing the wound. 

"See? It's over already!" Sora grinned at Riku's surprised look. It hadn't hurt a bit! Riku smiled happily as Sora put a plaster over his knee. Then he hugged him and Sora took him into his arms, feeling relieved that nothing bad had happened to Riku. The moment he heard the crash he was worried sick. 

"Sora...." Riku murmured as he nuzzled Sora's neck. The brunet blushed and smiled. 

"Yeah?" 

Riku made a purring sound, tickling Sora, causing him to blush even more. Then the boy pulled away and grinned, pointing at the fridge. 

"ICE-CREAM!" he squealed, giggling at Sora's annoyed expression. They took out the ice-cream and Riku began digging into it with his spoon like it was a shovel. Sora sat beside him, watching him with a worried expression. The way Riku was using the spoon, the kitchen might have ended up full of ice-cream. 

"Be careful with the ice-cream..." he muttered, but Riku was too caught up in eating to hear him. Sora eventually smiled again as he saw the chocolate ice cream around Riku's mouth, on his lips and his cheeks. He even began to laugh at the sight, for Riku even had some on his nose. Riku stopped eating at the sound of Sora's laughter and frowned. 

"What?" he asked, looking offended. 

Sora shook his head in a dismissing motion. "Nothing, keep eating," he answered, smiling wider as Riku frowned at him. 

"You're laughing at me!" the little boy spat, putting the spoon down to cross his arms. 

Sora chuckled and shrugged. 

Riku pouted and then tried his best to glare at his friend. It turned out way too cute to be threatening and Sora decided to show Riku why he was laughing. 

"Take a look," he suggested, getting the metal soup ladle to show Riku his reflection. The silver haired boy leaned forward suspiciously and peered at his reflection. He blinked. 

"There's something wrong," he said, frowning at his reflection. 

Sora raised his eyebrows. "What? You got ice-cream all over your face, that's wrong." 

Riku shook his head and reached up to wipe at his face. "I know that!" he replied, casting a short glance at Sora, before looking back at the reflection in the soup ladle. 

"But there's something wrong. See? When I move forward, my face gets all weird...." 

Sora took a look at the reflection before he realized what Riku was talking about. Of course the reflection was distorted, it was a spoon and not a real mirror. 

"Seeeee?" Riku moved the spoon away and then very close to his face, seemingly fascinated by the way his face changed in the reflection. 

Sora watched the little boy with amusement. Then, after some time of face-twisting, Riku turned back to the ice-cream....which was a puddle of something now. His eyes widened and his head snapped to Sora in an alarmed way. 

"The ice-cream's gone! It's gone! Look!" He pointed at the puddle in the box and began to tug on Sora's arm. "What happened to the ice-cream?! What! What!" he demanded while he began to pull on Sora's shirt. 

Sora burst into laughter and took Riku by the shoulders to calm him. Then he leaned in, bumping their foreheads. "It melted, Riku. You were playing with your reflection and it melted because it's too warm here. We have to put it back into the ice-box so it gets back to normal." 

Riku's eyebrows were knitted together in worry as Sora took the box to put it back where he had taken it from. 

"Will it be all right?" Riku quietly asked, chewing on his bottom lip. Sora turned to him and smiled, nodding once. 

"Sure. Just give it a little time." 

Riku sighed in relief, patting his chest with his hand. Sora chuckled and motioned him to come with him, back to the living room. 

The rest of the day was spent by playing video games. Sora nearly choked at the sight of Riku playing all the games like it was the easiest thing ever. The silver haired boy won everything he played, he even beat that game Sora had never managed to get through with. 'Natural talent or something like that,' Sora thought as he lay on the couch, watching Riku play. 

When it was evening, Sora made two cups of noodles again and promised that Riku would get a little more ice-cream as dessert. And after that, they went to sleep. Riku was more than exhausted, for the little boy needed much more sleep than Sora. But even Sora was exhausted. He still wasn't used to taking care of someone all the time. There was a huge difference between spending time with his friend, and taking care of his friend. When Riku was older than him, it was always Riku watching out for him. But now Sora was worrying over everything, hoping that Riku was feeling well and healthy. 

The last thought in Sora's mind was about the time when Riku got back to normal. The third day was already over. Four more days until the little boy would turn into a teenager again. What would it be like? 

  


~To be continued.....?~ 

  
~~~~~~~~ 

  


**Ending notes:  
** I actually thought of a plot now. LoL. Don't expect it to be very serious...it's just something I thought of...   
Y'all know Sora's madly in love with Riku, right? I did add a lot of SoraxRiku thoughts here... geez I hope it doesn't look like Sora loves the little kid. I wanted to make it that Sora likes Riku for who he is and now that he's taking care of his friend in this way makes him see how much he actually cares.   
Kay? Hmmm...all righty, please do review, I love reviews So, till the next time then! ^^ 


	7. The cinema

**

Disclaimer:  


** I still don't own Kingdom Hearts, nothing changed since chapter 6! 

****

Warnings:  
um...haven't written for a long time so I may be rusty? ****

Author's Ranting:   
It's been extreeemly long now, hasn't it? Can you forgive me? Just this once? Or should I say once again? It isn't the first time I didn't update for ages and I'm soo sorry. I just can't write that much any more, I have so much to do. But I'll really try.   
So anywayz I hope you like this chapter, it's been forever since I wrote about a chibi Riku so I might be a little out of shape. Have fun anyway! 

  


~~~~~~~~ 

  


Sora groaned. Something was poking him. And he knew exactly what this something was. 

"Riku..." he muttered, trying to turn to his side. 

The poking continued and Sora groaned again. Why was the little boy such an early riser? He remembered that the old Riku was an early riser, too whereas Sora had always loved to sleep. 

Mumbling to himself, Sora forced himself to open his eyes. First, his vision was blurry and he rubbed his eyes before he could actually see something. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something but his voice wouldn't work. Quickly, he looked to his right, where Riku should be lying, but there was no one. 

"Sora? What's wrong, are you sick?"   
Kairi was standing in his room, hands on her hips. The brunet shook his head, trying to gather his wits. And where was Riku? 

"Oh, he's with Selphie, don't worry. He's been up since sun rise and we came to visit you. You were sleeping so deeply that we didn't want to disturb you. I just came to wake you to ask what Riku likes to eat, it's noon after all." 

Sora saw the girl's lips move but he didn't quite understand what she was saying. Then, wait a second, it was NOON? 

"Yes, it is." 

Sora blinked, noting that he was not thinking but actually talking. This was sure confusing. Then he shook his head once again. 

Kairi laughed softly and patted him on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you're not insane yet. You should just let Riku stay with us so you can rest. I can see that you're overly exhausted so you don't even notice whether you speak or think." 

She smiled brightly at Sora's pouting face and jerked her thumb towards the door. 

"Well, either you come with us or you sleep. I'd just like to know what our little boy likes so he doesn't scream any more." 

Sora raised his eyebrows. "He screams?" 

Kairi sheepishly brushed and helplessly shrugged her shoulders. "He doesn't seem to like us. Especially Selphie....thinks we're monsters trying to eat him, though I really can't see why he sees us that way. He's been struggling for hours now, screaming that he wanted Sora." She giggled a little. "He's so cute, isn't he? He likes you just as though you're his mother or something. We told him you're sleeping and that he mustn't disturb you now because you'd be angry. He was silent for a while then." 

Sora frowned and decided to get up. He brushed past a puzzled Kairi and made his way out of his room. 

"Don't lie to him like that. I would never be angry with him." 

Kairi blinked at the retreating figure. "Huh?" Then she smiled, shaking his head slightly, and quickly followed her friend. 

When Sora went outside he just had to follow the shrieking voice of Selphie, and the whines coming from Riku. He almost laughed at the conversation he heard when he approached them. Kairi was just behind him and watched with a tried expression. 

"So they're still here..." 

Sora raised his eyebrows as he looked at the girl, then he turned back to the other kids. 

"Okay, Riku, let's do it this way. You get a biiiiiig teddy bear if you just let me hold you once! I promise you to give you everything you want! I'm not gonna eat you, you know!" 

Riku was sitting on a palm, stubbornly shaking his head as he took a coconut. 

Selphie sighed and stomped her foot. "Come on, at least come back down! Why are you so afraid of me?" 

Riku pouted and pointed a finger at her. "You want to eat me! You said 'he's so sweet I want to eat him right now!'" And after saying that, the silver haired boy quickly hid behind the big leaves, throwing a coconut at Selphie. 

The brunette squeaked and dodged. "What do you *want*?!" she shouted, readying herself to climb on that palm to get him back down. It was dangerous, after all. He could fall down and break something, and God knows what Sora would think of her then, allowing Riku to jump around on trees. 

"I WANT SORA!" he screamed, throwing another one at the girl. 

Sora decided to make his entrance to the scene and stepped forward, waving towards the palm. 

"I'm right here!" 

Selphie stopped in her tracks and spun around while Riku's ears perked up before he looked through the leaves. There he was standing! The silver haired boy gave a sigh of relief and then squealed happily to his savior. 

Selphie couldn't help but put her hands to her mouth and say "awww" at the pure cuteness. Sora smiled and started to go the palm, intending to bring Riku back down. However, the little boy was much faster and gracefully slid down on the trunk, landing softly on the sand. 

Everyone stared in awe at the boy. He was standing next to the palm, one hand still resting on the trunk, the other one brushing off his clothes and hair. Make this boy about 3 foot taller and you get the one and only Riku, Selphie thought as she started giggling. 

Sora and Kairi were thinking the same at that moment and began to smile. 

Riku sighed and turned to Sora, suddenly lifting one eyebrow in suspicion. "What?" he asked, oblivious to their thoughts. 

Sora chuckled and shrugged. 

The little boy's face screwed up and he crossed his arms. "What? You're laughing at me!" he exclaimed, looking offended. Sora then really began to laugh but stopped himself to shake his head. 

"No, we would never laugh at you, Riku." He smiled, spreading his arms towards the silver haired boy. 

All suspicions and offences left his mind when he saw this gesture and he sprinted towards Sora, jumping right into his arms. There was a stimulant squeal from Kairi and Selphie, so loud that Riku had to cover his ears. 

"Wahh! Sora, protect me!" he squealed, trying to hide himself in Sora's shirt. It tickled the other boy and he and struggled to keep Riku in his arms. 

"It would be much easier if you'd stay still," he laughed, squirming a little at the feeling of Riku pushing his head against his chest. 

It didn't help, though. Selphie and Kairi only squealed more at Riku's antics, who in turn squealed to make them stop. 

Sora sighed. Might as well squeal, too, huh? 

~~~ 

"Why are they with us?" Riku sourly asked, letting himself being dragged towards the cinema. 

Sora shrugged. Selphie and Kairi were behind them, whispering and giggling all the while, much to Riku's annoyance. He was still not convinced that they weren't evil monsters. 

"It's gonna be soo fun! There's this children's movie playing and I wanted to see it but it would be kinda embarrassing to go there at my age. But with Riku, that's something different!" Selphie exclaimed, giggling with Kairi as they walked towards the building. It was a small cinema and the only one on the whole island. 

Riku was sulking, refusing to move is feet and Sora had to drag him along. 

"You know, it would be much easier if you actually walked..." Sora muttered, carefully pulling the little boy along without being too violent. 

Riku made a whining noise and grabbed Sora's leg, starting to climb it. 

Sora gave a sound of surprise and reeled back but Riku stuck to him like glue. "Carry me!" he squeaked, earning an 'awww' from the giggling girls behind them. 

"Isn't he just sooo cute?!" Selphie bounced up an down, readying herself for a kidnapping assault. 

Sora chuckled at the little boy's pathetic expression and decided to have mercy. 

"All right, all right, I'll save you one more time. These monsters are the worst, huh?" He lifted Riku into his arms and held him tight, grinning back at the girls. 

Kairi and Selphie pouted as Sora called them monsters and stomped their feet. "Why do *you* get to carry him?! We're girls, we're supposed to be mothers! Kids love us!" 

Riku stuck out his tongue in a nasty way and clutched Sora's shirt. "I love Sora!" 

Selphie and Kairi gave a sigh and melted into a puddle at this adorable statement. Sora, however, was frozen in place for a moment. He didn't know why, but it really struck him to hear Riku say this. Suddenly a question rose up, the question of how it would be once Riku was himself again. He wouldn't act like this anymore, surely, for he wouldn't be a little boy anymore. 

"We need to take photos of this!" Kairi suddenly exclaimed, a light bubble appearing over her head. Selphie's eyes widened and she nodded in agreement at the superb idea. 

"Yeah, that's it! Riku's just too cute! We need photos of him before he's back to normal!" 

Sora and Riku were about to object, but the two girls were off in a second, running back home to get their cameras. 

The brunet sighed. "At least they live near this place...we shouldn't have to wait too long," he murmured, shaking his head in annoyance. 

Riku snorted and began to gnaw on Sora's shirt again. He looked up at Sora from beneath his eyelashes, teeth clamping the fabric in between, and uttered a very authentic "Rrrrr" as though he were a wolf. 

Sora looked down and grinned, growling right back which caused the little boy to smile and eventually giggle. 

"Sooo~ra!" he leapt towards Sora's face, coming nose to nose to him. 

The older boy struggled to keep him in his arms since Riku moved like a wanton, but smiled as they were only one hairbreadth apart. 

Riku heaved a long, content sigh and pushed his forehead against Sora, wrapping his tiny arms around Sora's neck. He tilted his head to kiss Sora's cheek, humming happily to himself. Sora began to blush, feeling extremely warm all of the sudden. 

Riku was simply too adorable, and Sora tightened his arms around him to pull him closer. 

Click 

A sudden flash of light blinded the boys and then they heard the girls snicker and giggle in victory. 

"Such a cute picture! We need more of this!" Selphie said while Kairi took some photos of the cinema. 

Sora sighed at the girls' hyperactivity but decided to play along since the thought of having photos of Riku and him like this was not all that bad. Kairi told them to stand before the cinema, next to a tree, at a rock and a lot of other locations. They had to pose, which Sora thought was ridiculous. Riku was sulking on almost every photo, sticking his tongue out, glaring at the camera or looking down, refusing to show himself. 

Time passed and it was time to go to see the movie. As they entered, they found two familiar figures at the entrance hall. 

"Tidus! Wakka!" Kairi ran towards them to greet them. 

Riku curiously looked up and turned his head to see the two boys. The one with the red hair was the one with the ball, he remembered. 

"What are you doing here?" Sora asked, walking over to them, kind of ignoring the fact that Riku was clutching to his leg. He was used to it by now. 

Wakka raised an eyebrow and looked down at the boy at Sora's leg. 

"Um...we're here to see a movie," he answered, turning to Tidus. 

Selphie squealed. "Yay! So you can join us! We were going to see a movie, too!" 

Everyone rolled their eyes. "Well, duh. What else would we be doing in a cinema?" Kairi asked, shaking her head in mock exasperation. 

Selphie pouted and crossed her arms. 

The boys exchanged a look, then turned to Riku. 

"I suppose he's not allowed to watch a movie rated MA 15+." Wakka said, hoping they'd get away with this. They really didn't want to see a movie with the girls. 

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Neither are you," she replied, putting her hands to her hips. 

Sora grinned. They had lost. No one could win against the girls. 

A few minutes later they were all sitting in the theater, waiting for the movie to start. Lots of parents with their children were there and they were the only teens there which made them feel a little awkward. Having Riku with them, however, helped to prevent people giving them strange looks. 

The girls were sitting next to each other, Sora and Riku in the middle and Wakka and Tidus next to them. 

"Can you see over the seats?" Sora whispered to Riku who was currently busy drinking his huge coke with a straw. The little boy was sitting in that big chair, seeing nothing but the backside of another big chair standing in the row before him. It didn't bother him, though. 

"It's okay," he replied, continuing to drink, looking nonchalant. Sora chuckled and patted his head affectionately. 

Then it got dark and the people grew quiet. The film started. 

Selphie and Kairi watched in excitement while Tidus and Wakka tried to distract themselves with pop corn. They weren't going to watch a babies' movie. 

Riku suddenly stood up and tugged on Sora's shirt. The brunet turned to him. 

"Yeah?" 

The silver haired boy reached out and took hold of Sora's arm. 

"It's so dark!" he whined, nearly spilling his drink as he moved around. 

Sora sighed and tried to calm him. "Sshhh it's all right. Look at the screen. There's the movie playing, you'll like it." He pointed towards the screen where a cartoon dragon was flying over the sky. 

The little boy's eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open in awe. "Woooahhh...." He let go off Sora's arm, standing on his seat, staring at the gorgeous dragon on screen. 

Sora smiled and also turned his attention back to the movie. The next few minutes were peaceful and Riku was completely absorbed into the film. That, however, couldn't last forever and Riku soon had something to complain about. 

"Sooora!" he whined, causing a few parents to turn their heads. Sora winced and put his finger to Riku's lip to silence him. 

"Be a little more quiet, Riku," he whispered. "You have to whisper in here." 

The silver haired boy cocked his head, considering Sora's words. He seemed to think them over as though it was a very important decision whether to stay quiet. Then he nodded. 

"But Sora," he whispered. Sora turned to him with an expecting look. 

Riku pointed past him, over to Wakka and Tidus who were currently throwing pop corn at each other. 

"I want that!" he exclaimed, covering his mouth in an instant as he remembered to be quiet. "..I want that..." he whispered, eyes pleading with Sora's. 

The brunet sighed and nodded. 

"All right, but don't start throwing it like they do." 

He nudged Wakka, taking some of the food to give it to Riku. The silver haired boy's eyes lit up and he mouthed 'thank you' before stuffing it into his mouth. 

Sora shook his head with a smile and turned back to the film. It was quite interesting, he had to admit. 

Riku was silent for a while, fascinated by the movie once again. The next few minutes were peaceful but then Riku's attention was drawn to something else again. 

"Hey Sora!" he whispered, poking the older boy next to him. Sora turned his head sharply, a little annoyed now that Riku wanted something again. 

"Yes?" 

Riku pointed at the floor, looking at it in wonder. "See the little sparkling things there?" 

Sora narrowed his eyes and then raised his eyebrows. "Yeah. That's part of the floor. Don't know what it is, though," he replied, already turning back to the screen. Riku watched him and frowned. He pouted and crossed his arms, sitting back down to stare at the seat in front of him. 

The movie didn't interest him anymore. It was boring. But at least Kairi, who was sitting next to him, was too busy watching the movie to bother him. 

Time passed and Riku tried to get Sora's attention again and again. Sometimes he just stood up to make Sora turn his head, sometimes he gave Sora a little shove to make him notice him. Sora seemed to be more interested in the movie than in Riku. 

After a while of sitting in complete silence, Riku tugged again on Sora's shirt. The brunet ignored it, continuing to watch the movie. Riku sulked and tugged harder. Sora rolled his eyes and turned to Riku. 

"What is it now?" he whispered, careful not to bother the other guests. 

Riku's lips quivered and he looked down. Sora's expression softened and he patted the little boy's head. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound harsh. What's the matter?" 

The silver haired boy stood up on his seat, pulling Sora down so he could reach his ear. 

"I have to pee," he whispered, so loud that almost everyone could hear it. 

Selphie and Kairi turned, and giggled quietly while Tidus and Wakka laughed. The other guests mumbled something, some turned to scold the teens, some merely smiled at Riku. 

Sora looked at the others for a second, hoping they weren't acting too embarrassing for the other guests. He heaved a long sigh and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "All right. Let's go." 

They left the theater and went to the toilet where Riku examined the shiny tiles on the floor. 

"Wow! I can see myself in there!" He ran around excitedly and looked at everything and anything. Sora patiently waited but after a while he began to wonder. 

"Don't you have to do something?" he asked, crossing his arms. 

Riku looked up at him. "Huh?" He then shook his head and crossed his arms behind his back, looking away as though he was ashamed. "I...just wanted to get out..." he murmured, hoping that Sora wouldn't be angry. 

The brunet groaned and slapped his forehead. Then he took a deep breath and calmed. Riku just wanted to get out. He remembered when they were little and their parents dragged them somewhere, telling them to stay quiet all the time. Sora smiled at the memory of their mischief at that time. 

"You just wanted to get out, huh? Was it that boring?" 

Riku looked up and nodded, eyebrows knitting together to a frown as he pouted. Sora chuckled and reached to pick him up. 

"All right. Let's make a deal. You stop calling Selphie and Kairi monsters and I'll take you somewhere fun." 

Riku raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Stop calling them monsters?! But they are trying to *eat me*!" He emphasized his statement with thud on his chest. 

Sora chuckled and bumped his forehead with Riku. "They're not. And even if they were, don't call them monsters. They'll get upset. Just...avoid them, okay? That's what we all do." He laughed, thinking of Wakka's attempt to get away from the girls. It wasn't like they didn't like them. They just didn't want to all their time with them, doing girls stuff. 

Riku thought Sora's suggestion over and decided that it was worth a try. 

"I'll stop," he said, nodding once. 

Sora ruffled the little boy's hair with affection and they left the restroom to find some place Riku liked. 

  


~To be continued.....?~ 

  
~~~~~~~~ 

  


**Ending notes:  
** Hmm okay I had thought of this plot but there was nothing about it in this chapter...   
It's just another piece of fluff and I hope you liked it! Review please? And bear with my infrequency of updating, I beg you! 


	8. Butterflies

**

Disclaimer:  


** Some things never change [I don't own Kingdom Hearts] and some do [but I still don't own Kingdom Hearts} 

****

Warnings:  
I'm sugar high! *bounces around* ehh..and here's a little more shonen ai than usually ^__^ Sora realizes something. Feelings, feelings, feelings ^^****

Author's Ranting:   
Thanks to baka coconut and her wonderful idea I was able to update!! ^-^ Go thank her by reading and reviewing her story, ne? I'm gonna thank her by crawling on my knees, worshipping her ^_^ Thank you thank you thank you thank you! *huggles* thank you. really. thank you so much! Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'll stop. Here goes the 8th chapter! I hope you have fun! 

  


~~~~~~~~ 

  


They were in heaven. Riku looked around with big eyes, seeing all the blinking lights, hearing the loud arcade music. It was perfect. Sora grinned, digging into his pocket to count his money. 

"Let's see.... we got...uhh...ow damn." He sweatdropped as he saw that there weren't many coins left. He had spent his entire money on Riku's clothes, food and the cinema. Only a few more coins to play but that was all. 

Riku stared up at the big screen where he saw two figures standing ready to fight. 

"Sora!" he called, pointing up. 

"Huh?" The brunette looked up from his money and followed the direction of Riku's hand. 

"I wanna play that!" Riku said, ignoring the fact that he couldn't even reach the buttons on the table. 

"Uhhh, Riku. This is a very serious fighting game, I don't think kids like you should play that." He glanced at the screen, which had started to show an in-game scene. He arched an eyebrow. 

"I don't think _anyone_ should play that." 

The blood was spluttering out whenever the figure was hit and the whole moves seemed to be far too brutal to let anyone sane play. This was a massacre. 

"I wanna play!" Riku insisted, crossing his arms in a stubborn way. Sora shook his head. Riku pouted. Sora shook his head again. Riku punched Sora's leg. 

"Ow!" The brunette frowned, shaking his head in a disapproving way. "No, Riku. That's nothing for us. Let's play something else." 

The silver haired boy clenched his teeth and glared at Sora. "I'm not afraid! I can play that game!" He began to jump, trying to reach the buttons to play. Sora watched him a while without doing anything at all. He was sure Riku was going to give up after a while. 

Riku jumped, trying all kinds of tricks to get up there. However, he was too small and he never even brushed the surface of the little table let alone reached the buttons. 

"Riku, give--" 

"NO!" Riku cut him off before he could even say it and continued to jump. As Sora watched him a little longer he cocked his head in wonder. Riku moved exactly like he would move if he were grown. Of course the movements were a little awkward because of the tiny body but the knowledge was there. Riku still _knew_ how use his strength correctly to get the most efficient result. That didn't change the fact that he didn't have much strength, though. 

A few minutes passed and Riku was still jumping, already getting looked at by other people in the arcade. Sora gave them an apologetic look and tried to persuade him to give up, which of course didn't work. Riku was determined. Well, stubborn would be the word. 

Eventually the brunette decided. It was unfair to take advantage of his size but he had no chance. 

"I'm sorry, Riku but this is ridiculous." He walked to the boy and grabbed him, taking him into his arms. Riku screamed and kicked, trying to wriggle out of Sora's grasp. 

"Lemme go! Lemme go! Lemme gooo!" 

Sora chuckled and held Riku was tight as possible without hurting him. "Nooo." He imitated Riku's whiny voice and stuck out his tongue. Riku did the same, adding a "baaaahhhhhhh" for effect. 

He then pinched Sora and managed to get free, jumping down to flee from the other boy. 

"Riku!" Sora snapped, running after the little boy. The two were getting looks from everyone now, some started laughing. 

"Riku, get back here! Don't run around by yourself!" Sora did his best to catch up with Riku, how could a three year old be that fast anyway? But Riku's advantage was that he was very small and he could run through the crowded hall without getting much attention. Sora was stumbling over this and that while catching his friend. 

Finally Riku came to a dead end. He turned around, a look of panic crossed his face as he saw that Sora was coming towards him. He looked to his side, checking his surroundings. There was no way out. He frowned, glared, and then sighed. 

As Sora finally reached him, Riku was standing calmly leaned against the wall, wearing a superior expression, which looked oddly intimidating even though he was just three. 

"You're so slow, Sora," he coolly stated, rolling his eyes in mock disappointment. 

The brunette blinked, then raised his eyebrows. There were times he thought this little boy's mind wasn't the mind of a little boy at all. 

"Let's play that one!" Riku suddenly squealed, pointing at another game on a big screen. He began to climb Sora's leg to get him to carry him so he could sit in Sora's arms to get a better view. Sora smiled. He was still a kid, after all. 

He turned to look at what scary game Riku was pointing this time but to his surprise it wasn't a bloody game about maiming. It was... Dance Dance Revolution. 

"Hey that looks like fun. Okay, let's go play that." 

They went over to the platform and Sora inserted a coin. Riku stood by the side, eyeing the platform suspiciously. It hadn't looked that big when he had spotted it. 

"This is huuuge.." he muttered, frowning slightly while Sora stepped onto the platform. 

"Yeah I guess it'll be hard for you to play." 

Riku's head snapped up to Sora's. "I can play, too!" He had a look of determination as if he had just been challenged and who was he to refuse a challenge? 

Sora smirked. "Don't cry if you lose." 

Riku snorted and climbed onto the platform, losing some of his confidence as he saw the huge distances between the arrows. Okay, so it wasn't really huge, but to him it looked really scary. He had to look at the screen _ and _ step on the right arrow, after all. 

The game started and Sora smiled, having no problems in playing. So he had practiced a lot but that was a secret. Riku, however, had his troubles reaching the arrows in time and began to get frustrated. Eventually he gave up, which was very unlikely for him but he did, jumping off the platform. 

"This is stupid!" he whined, going into sulking-mode. Sora chuckled and decided to play a little longer while Riku sat on the floor, watching him. He felt a little sorry for his friend since Riku had never lost in any kind of game. But then again, as he looked at the silver haired boy from the corner of his eye, Riku didn't seem to take it very seriously. 

Sora suddenly blushed slightly, noticing that Riku was watching him intently. He tried not to get distracted by it but Riku's eyes were burning into him causing his stomach to twist slightly. It was _ the feeling _ again. He had had it a few times before. Even before Riku turned into a little boy. Before that, Riku would sometimes look at him in that odd way and Sora would feel his eyes on him, getting a strange feeling inside. And since a few days ago, when Riku suddenly turned into a little boy, this feeling was intensified. He'd first had it when Riku kissed him on the first evening. 

Sora missed the arrow. He didn't really notice, though. He was suddenly thinking about this feeling. He missed again. And again, and again until he stopped moving completely, lost in thought. 

Riku blinked, getting up to walk to Sora. 

He tilted his head, tugging on Sora's pant leg. No reaction. Riku frowned, feeling a little worried as Sora didn't respond. 

"Sora?" he quietly asked, wondering what was wrong. 

Sora was staring off into space. Then, suddenly, he looked down at Riku, seeming concentrated on something. He looked at Riku, and the silver haired boy looked back at him so that they were looking into each other's eyes. They remained like that for a moment. 

'What's this feeling? It's like...like... oh, no...' He mentally slapped his forehead as he found the right description. 'Butterflies.' 

It felt like a swarm of butterflies moving in his stomach whenever Riku looked at him like that. And that was not a good sign. Because, butterflies indicated that you were...well..._ in love _. 

Sora paled. 

"Sora?" Riku frowned as he saw Sora's strange expression. "Sora? Can we go home?" He was worried that Sora could be sick and wanted to go home because there he would feel save. 

The brunette slapped himself lightly to regain his wits and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them he smiled gently at Riku and nodded, taking him into his arms. He was blushing more than ever and Riku touched his cheek in worry. 

"Are your sick?" Riku asked, poking the reddened cheek. 

Sora laughed lightly and shook his head. "Not really. I'm fine. But let's go home, it's going to be evening soon." He quickly brushed off all his strange emotions and left the arcade with Riku in his arms. 

"Ne Sora..." Riku began, as they were on their way home. The sun was beginning to set. 

"Hm?" Sora looked down at Riku, unable to ignore the adorable flushed face. The little boy was getting tired. 

"'m tired..." Sora smiled as Riku's eyes became half-lidded. Riku leaned his head on Sora's shoulder, snuggling closer to him as a quiet yawned escaped his lips. "mmm..." Riku attempted to say something but his words were muffled by Sora's shirt as he buried his face in Sora's shoulder. His tiny arms were around Sora's neck, holding him in a loose, yet possessive way. 

Sora felt the warm breath of his friend on his neck as Riku turned his head slightly to the side. The light puffs flew against his skin and the blood rushed into his face. There was the feeling again. And it was accompanied with images he would have never dreamed of. He couldn't help imagining the older version of Riku holding him like this, breathing against his neck in that soft, calm way. 

Sora felt like he was going insane. 

He wanted to shake himself to make those thoughts go away but he stopped himself as he realized Riku had fallen asleep. His breathing was steady and slow and his grip had loosened, his fingers were half curled. 

Sora felt a sudden wave of calmness come over him and soon he was walking slowly and steadily towards home. The sun was descending into a pool of orange colors. It felt relaxing to look at it, to watch everything get darker and eventually, Sora felt like falling asleep. He was worn out, after all. Taking care of Riku was a lot more exhausting than he had ever imagined. 

Even though he kept walking, he was getting sleepier and sleepier with every step he took. 

Suddenly, however, there was a whistling sound and then a loud bang, shaking both Sora and Riku awake. 

Sora looked around, then turned his head upwards to the sky. Riku was clutching to Sora's shirt, seeming scared of whatever had woken him. He looked at Sora and saw that he was looking at the sky. Imitating the posture he looked upwards - and gaped. 

Above him, colors were exploding! It looked like shiny colorful rain spreading into the air. 

Then, another whistling sound followed by a bang, and there was more shiny rain. Riku's mouth was wide open in awe and wonder, eyes fixed on the spectacle. 

Sora blinked a few times. "A firework at this time? Is there a celebration or what?" he asked himself, wondering if he had missed something. 

Riku was still staring and staring as there were a few more explosions. It looked like stars were falling down and the sun was starting to vanish, leaving a beautiful dark blue night's sky that was lightened by the firework. 

Sora looked around for the source of it and eventually found a group of people standing together while behind them, the fireworks were being set up. Sora went over to them, wincing sometimes at the loud bang when one of the fireworks exploded. Riku didn't seem to mind the loud noise and simply stared at the beautiful phenomenon. He was enchanted by it. 

"What's this firework for?" Sora asked as he reached some of the people. 

A woman turned to him and smiled. "Don't you know? There's going to be a festival in three days." 

Sora cocked his head, furrowing his eyebrows as he thought. 'Festival...festival...Ah!' Of course! He had heard Selphie talk about it some time last week. When he and Riku had been sparing, Selphie was telling everyone to go to that festival. Sora's thoughts came to rest on Riku again. He remembered the adorable look on his face when he slept and wondered if the older Riku would also look like this. He could see it clearly before him, which caused him to smile a little. 

Then, he came back to reality and asked, "But then why's there a firework _today_?" 

The woman smiled. "That's not the _ real _ firework. We're just trying and practicing a little. At the festival, the firework will be a lot bigger and it will also be much more impressive." She smiled proudly as she gestured to the other people standing around. They were all working on setting the fireworks up, Sora hadn't noticed before. Everyone was doing something, coordinating or lightening the fireworks. 

"Oooooh." Sora smiled back, wondering what it was going to look like once the real big fireworks came. 

Suddenly Riku tugged on Sora's shirt, gaining his attention. The brunette looked down. 

Riku had a strange look in his eyes, he looked very serious despite his child-like face. Sora waited for him to say something and looked at him. 

The silver haired boy narrowed his eyes slightly, then leaned forward. 

Another whistling sound and bang caused both to wince slightly. Then the colorful rain descended and Riku leapt towards Sora, giving him a kiss. 

Sora was shocked and nearly dropped Riku as he felt that the swarm of butterflies had turned into an army of planes. He was feeling oddly dizzy and couldn't quite decide whether he was cold or warm. Riku withdrew, looking down as if he was confused himself. Maybe he didn't know what he had just done. He was a kid after all. 

The woman turned around, seeing the two boys stand there. She hadn't seen them kiss because she had been working on another firework. 

"You two should really come and see the big firework. But for now, you should go home, it's getting late. Kids shouldn't stay out that long." 

Sora nodded absently, feeling too awkward to answer and eventually began to walk. Riku remained silent for the rest of the way but he wasn't sleeping anymore. He just looked straight ahead while Sora carried him. 

When they reached Sora's home, Riku jumped off, walking into the bathroom. Sora followed him and saw that the little boy was trying to reach the toothbrush. He helped him and brushed his teeth, patting his head and smiling affectionately when he was done. He hadn't complained about the toothpaste this time. 

Riku went ahead into the bedroom and changed into his pajamas, all by himself, which surprised Sora a bit. He didn't know Riku could do that. 

The silver haired boy lay down and stared at the ceiling. He hadn't say a word since they came home. 

"Riku? Are you all right?" Sora eventually asked as he made himself a cup of ramen. Again. He didn't have anything beside instant noodles and it was getting on his nerves. But he had to eat _ something _ so he ate another one of those. 

He came to sit beside Riku, eating while he watched the other boy lie in bed. There was no answer from him and Sora frowned. 

"Is something wrong?" He placed the cup of noodles on the nightstand and climbed into the bed to lean over the boy. 

As Sora's face came into Riku's vision, he smiled. "Tired..." he yawned, waving at Sora to leave him. The brunette seemed a bit puzzled but decided to take this as an answer. He lay down beside Riku, beginning to stroke over the soft, silver hair. Riku turned to his side facing Sora, then closed his eyes with a smile. Sora kept brushing over his hair until he was asleep and then bent to kiss his forehead. 

"Sweet dreams, Riku." 

Shifting slightly to lie on his back, Sora began to stare at the ceiling. He was definitely feeling weird things, things he shouldn't feel and things he didn't understand. He wondered what he should do about it. He couldn't ask anyone...how should he? And who would listen to such ridiculous things, anyway? Normally he would tell Riku, if anyone. Only Riku he trusted enough to ask about things like that. But that was currently not an option. 

Sora sighed. Maybe Kairi? She was a girl after all. Sora yawned. 

"Riku..." 

And with that he fell into peaceful slumber. 

  


~To be continued.....?~ 

  
~~~~~~~~ 

  


**Ending notes:  
** Plot is coming, plot is coming! Or not... errr... I have already thought of an ending. There are going to be... 3 or 4 more chapters and then it's over! Yup, I hope you're all happy with that. I don't want this story to get dragged out too much although chibi Riku is just mortifyingly kawaii, ne? But still. I have a beautiful ending for this story, or at least the concept of the ending. Let's see how long it takes to write it down. So like I said, 3 or 4 chapters. Currently the 4th day is over, so there are three more days. A few things are going to happen and of course after the three days Riku will be back to his old self. And then. yeah. let's see. ^^ reviews are always appreciated and give me motivation to write more ^-^ 


	9. The Phone Call

**

Disclaimer:  


** If I didn't put a disclaimer here, would that mean you'd all believe I own Kingdom Hearts? 

****

Warnings:  
Kairi's not evil! This is no anti-Kairi story! ****

Author's Ranting:   
Tadaaa! And here we go. The next chapter....New trouble!  
And Sora's gone to Kairi for advice.   
chibi Riku: "Ne, Sora, what's 'advice'?"  
Awww. Well, well. See what Kairi can come up with... she is not a bad girl. She's not evil in this story.   
Yay for Kairi heh. 

  


~~~~~~~~ 

  


Sora had a dream. In this dream, weird things were happening. They involved Riku. 

The brunette's eyes fluttered open as he heard an annoying ringing sound coming from somewhere outside the room. He blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes to wake himself. His mind was still hazed and he realized that the high-pitched ringing could only come from the phone. He turned to look at the clock. 

6:20 a.m. He groaned. Who would call him this early? Normally, he would have ignored the annoying sound and continued to sleep but the thought of Riku waking up because of this made him reconsider this idea. He looked at the boy who was currently sleeping peacefully, curled into a ball. Sora smiled, seeing that Riku didn't use up any space. First of all, because he was so small and secondly because he was curled up like this. He could have slept in a basket like that. 

The ringing seemed to get louder, more urgent, and Sora quickly left the bedroom to answer who ever was bothering him at this hour. 

He made his way to the phone, stumbling over one of Riku's toys in the progress. Rubbing his foot, he went to pick up the phone. 

"Hello?" His voice sounded sleepy although he wasn't that sleepy anymore, just annoyed. 

"Sora? Did I wake you? It's me, mom." 

Sora blinked. His mother? Why would she call right now? Weren't his parents away for a while? 

"Sora? Are you awake?" the voice on the phone asked. 

The boy shook himself and cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. Why are you calling? I thought you and dad were away." 

A sigh was audible on the other line and eventually his mother spoke. "It's really nice here, the hotel is pretty, you should have come with us." she paused, sighing again. 

Sora waited. 

"Well, we have to come home earlier, though. Dad got sick after eating that seafood." A short laugh followed and Sora's mother began to tell the tale of how she and Sora's father had gone to the luxurious restaurant, having no idea what to order until they thought they'd just try to seafood at the buffet. Who would have known that it wasn't that fresh anymore? 

Sora wasn't listening, though. He wanted to ask his mother when they would back but she wouldn't stop talking. Eventually he decided to just blurt it out even though he knew it was rude. 

"When are you going to be here?" 

The voice paused. A rustling was audible and then she spoke again. "Tomorrow at noon. We're already packing our stuff now. Unfortunately we can't check out of the hotel until tomorrow." 

Sora paled. "Tomorrow already?!" Riku wouldn't be back to normal by that time, would he? Selphie said a week. That would make seven days. And tomorrow would only be the sixth day...would he be back by then? 

"Why, yes, honey. Why are you so shocked? Have you done something?" There was a teasing tone in his mother's voice. He could hear it. She would always tease him about doing something for which his father would scold him. 

"Uhh...no..." he muttered, already pondering over what he should do with Riku once his parents were back. And how should he explain the loss of his entire pocket money and savings? And the toys. And the clothes. 

"Look, whatever you've done, just don't let dad know. Try to fix it till tomorrow, I'll try to distract him if anything goes wrong." 

Sora smiled and he knew that his mother was also smiling even though he couldn't see it. She was always like that. Acting more like a good friend than a mother most of the time, making sure his father wasn't too strict with him. 

"Thanks, mom. But I really haven't done anything...it's just..." he stopped, hearing the bedroom door open. His eyes darted to the door and came to rest on a sleepy Riku, dragging the pillow with him, holding it at the corner. 

"Just...?" the voice on the phone prodded. 

Sora shook his head, turning his attention back to the phone call. "Nothing, really. I'm glad you're coming home," he lied. Well, he didn't lie completely. Of course he was glad his parents were back. No more Ramen! But what about Riku? What about this mess? 

"Awww, you're too sweet, Sora. Well, well. I'll leave it to you, then. See you tomorrow!" Sora grinned as he heard his mother smooch the phone and thanked God it was only the phone and not he. 

"Bye, mom." 

He hung up. 

Riku yawned and rubbed his eyes. 

"Why did you go out?" he sleepily asked, yawning again before he let go of the pillow, causing it to slide to the floor. He seemed too sleepy to notice that, though, because the small hand was still in place, as though he was holding the pillow. Sora watched in amusement and walked over to him, patting his head. 

"I had to answer the phone." 

Then he picked him up and went back to the bedroom, taking the pillow with him. They sat down on the bed and the silver haired boy crawled on to his lap, curling up again. He yawned, closing his eyes. 

"Don't do that..." he mumbled, half drifting back to sleep. Sora ran his index finger over Riku's nose. 

"Yes sir." 

Riku giggled and cracked one eye open before he nuzzled into Sora. "No going away..." he murmured, tiny hands curling into the shirt. Sora nodded and tilted his head up, staring into space while he absently ran his hands over Riku's back. 

What should he do? Tell his parents what had happened? He didn't know how they would react, and actually he didn't want to find out. He sighed. What a mess. 

And that wasn't all. He still had to figure out with that feeling....those butterflies. He hoped that he had mistaken something and that feeling didn't mean you were in love. He simply _ couldn't _ be in love with Riku. It was just...not right. Or was it? 

Sora didn't know. He didn't know anything anymore. 

~~ 

The hours passed and Sora didn't sleep. He was too busy thinking and watching Riku in his sleep. 

Suddenly, Riku shifted and stirred awake, slowly opening his eyes. Eyes still half-lidded, his hands reached out and his lips moved, seeming as though he was trying to tell Sora to come closer. The brunette obeyed and leaned down expecting him to say something. 

Instead, Riku took hold of Sora's cheeks and hooked his thumbs into the corners of Sora's mouth, stretching it. Sora's eyebrows shot up in surprise and Riku giggled. 

"You look funny!" he exclaimed, stretching Sora's mouth wider. The brunette had a puzzled look on his face. He suddenly remembered himself doing that to Riku sometimes when they were younger. Hell, he'd even done that two weeks ago. Was Riku adopting his habits or was Sora just acting too much like a kid? Like a three-year-old? He decided to ask Riku about this once he was back to normal. 

Eventually the silver haired boy let go and sighed. 

"Hungry," he stated, pointing at his stomach. Sora couldn't resist the temptation and started to tickle the little boy mercilessly. Riku squealed loudly and began to laugh, wriggling and squirming, trying to get free. 

Sora smirked and tickled him more. 

Suddenly, however, Riku stopped squealing and pressed his lips together. Sora stopped, then jabbed his sides once more. Riku twitched slightly but remained still. 

"Not ticklish anymore?" Sora playfully asked. 

Riku shook his head, remaining still although Sora was jabbing his sides again. 

"Hmm...are you sure?" the older boy teased. 

Riku bit his lip to prevent himself from laughing again and nodded. Sora grinned and continued tickling him even though it didn't have much effect. Riku was twitching slightly but that was all. He seemed to be totally determined and concentrated not to give in. 

However, Sora knew that he wouldn't last much longer and tickled him until Riku lost his composture and let out a squeal. 

"SORA!!" He laughed again, twisting and turning until Sora finally showed mercy and stopped. Riku was panting and giggling, rolling around the bed. 

Sora was amazed, though. He had shown a good amount of self-control. There weren't many three-year-olds who could take such a tickling attack while remaining perfectly still. He smiled. Riku was Riku, no matter at what age. 

After that tickling assault, they went to have breakfast, Sora feeding Riku before the little boy turned the kitchen into a mess. It was funny how he could dress himself, play video games, but not eat properly. But it was cute, Sora thought. He loved feeding Riku because he would be so peaceful and willing to listen to everything Sora said. 

And after they were full, Sora took Riku into his arms. 

"We gotta go to visit Kairi today. I need to talk to her since I think I could need some advice." He stroked over Riku's hair while he talked. 

He had decided to ask Kairi about the problem with his parents and if she could watch over Riku for the last day. Of course he didn't want to let Riku go, and he was sure that Riku wouldn't want to stay at Kairi's place but he had no choice, had he? He knew that his parents would want to have him there the whole afternoon once they were back. That was the disadvantage of his family. The bonds were too strong and his parents always wanted a 'family day' they could spend together. Riku was allowed to be there, too, which made Sora a lot happier than he would have been, but this time, Riku wouldn't be able to be there. Not as a three-year old kid. 

Sora sighed. He had to hide Riku somewhere. 

"Sora..." Riku began, looking worried, as though he knew what Sora was thinking. 

The older boy looked down. "Hm?" 

Riku chewed on his bottom lip and frowned. "Ne...what's..what's 'advice'?" 

Sora blinked. Then a smile broke over his face and before he knew what he was doing he was cuddling Riku, almost smothering him. Riku laughed and tried to push him away for a bit but he didn't seem to mind Sora cuddling him at all. 

And then Sora pulled away. "I need to ask Kairi something and she'll hopefully give me an answer I can use," he explained. 

Riku's mouth shaped and O and he nodded. 

"So, so, when I ask if you love me and you say you do, then that's advice, too? Because I can use this answer since if you love me I could tell you to be with me allll the time and never go away and you would do it, right?" 

Sora was stunned. He hadn't expected that. Even though Riku had said it in such an innocent voice, Sora couldn't help feeling weird about this. He looked at Riku, who was still looking at him expectantly. "Right?" he asked again, big, innocent eyes fixed on him. 

Sora didn't know what to answer and simply changed the subject. 

"Riku, remember what you promised me about the girls? Don't call them monsters anymore, okay?" 

Riku frowned, opening his mouth to deny this promise but then changed his mind. Sora seemed to take this seriously so Riku would do what he wanted. 

"Yup, okay." 

Sora nodded and got up, blushing as Riku gave him a little kiss on his cheek. 

"Let's go, then." 

~~ 

"So basically, that's it. Mom and dad are going to be back tomorrow and I don't know what to do with Riku." Sora had finished telling Kairi about the phone call and his problem with his parents wanting to spend time with him once they were back. 

Riku was currently chasing Wakka through Kairi's house. It was pure coincidence but Wakka and Sora had met half way to Kairi's house. He'd been planning to play Blitzball but Sora asked him to play with Riku while he had to talk to Kairi. And being a good friend, Wakka agreed. Riku seemed to like Wakka good enough to let him babysit him and Wakka seemed to like the little Riku, too. Better than the old one, he thought, since the little boy couldn't beat him. 

Kairi looked thoughtful. "Well, I would love to take care of Riku that day. But I doubt he will stay with me." She grimaced as she remembered him calling her and Selphie monsters. 

Sora grinned sheepishly. "That's because you're smothering him every time you see him." 

Kairi shot him an evil glare. "Am not." 

Sora grinned. "Are too." 

"Am not!" 

"Are too! 

"Am not! Not not not!" 

Sora laughed. "Who's the three-year-old now?" 

Kairi blinked, then laughed a bit herself. "Seems like Riku is influencing me. But..." she was serious again, thinking about a solution. Sora really hoped she could help him. There was also another thing he had to talk about with her...although he wasn't too sure how to start. 

The girl suddenly smiled, nodding to herself. "You could just stay at Riku's house. His parents are gone for most of the day, they work a lot. And as for your family and that family day stuff... I'll tell them you and Riku are helping me with something, something very important and because you're such a good friend you can't let me down, so you can't be at home when they're at home." 

She smiled proudly at her good idea but then she frowned. "No wait a minute, that would be rude. You should at least welcome your parents when they're back." 

Sora smiled. She was well mannered, after all. 

"Maybe you can let Riku stay somewhere, just for a minute. Like, letting Wakka taking care of him again. And when your parents come, you welcome them but - now here's the clue - I'll call you, asking you to come over to me at once because I have this very important thing only you can help me with. And Riku has to come, too, so you two will be occupied for the rest of the day without anyone worrying about you. And in the evening you tell your mom you're staying at Riku's house. I'm sure she'll allow it. And if not, I'll talk to her. She likes me good enough to believe me." 

Actually, this was a good idea and Sora was a little surprised at how easy this all sounded without being stupid at all. 

"Wow. That's cool. Thanks for helping, Kairi!" Sora hugged his friend and the girl smiled patting his back. 

"No problem, Sora. After all, it's partly my fault you had to go through this all." She gestured to little Riku who had just caught a very surprised Wakka. Here he had thought the little boy couldn't do anything to him, yet Riku had managed to catch Wakka and was looking at him in that 'you're-no-match-for-me' way. 

Sora laughed at the sight and turned back to Kairi. "Oh, no, I really loved taking care of him. Riku's really, really sweet." He sighed dreamily, earning a confused look from Kairi. 

"You loved it, eh?" Something in her told her that there was something else he loved. 

Sora nodded absently, watching Riku wrestle with Wakka. He was surprisingly good with his movements but he lacked strength since a boy of his age could never win against a fifteen-year-old. 

Kairi saw that clouded look in his eyes and half smiled and half frowned. She didn't want to make wrong assumptions but to her it seemed Sora was... 

"Say, Kairi," Sora suddenly began, looking at her again. 

"Yeah?" 

Sora blushed, dropping his gaze. "Um...I...I have a question...about...umm..." He looked around nervously, wondering how to start. How should he ask her without telling her what he thought? He wanted to ask her about this feeling without saying that he thought he might be in love with Riku. 

"Um...right!" He had an idea. 

"You know what I read a few days ago? Someone wrote about a stomachache. But it wasn't really a stomachache, just a strange feeling. They described it as...a strange, dull feeling, as if something's moving or something like that. They thought they might have some kind of sickness and went to the doctor but the doctor didn't find anything. So they wrote to a health magazine to ask for advice. No one knew what the reason for this feeling was, though." 

He stopped. He looked at Riku again, smiling slightly as he saw that the silver haired boy was sulking while Wakka ruffled his hair with a smirk. "No match against me, huh?" the redhead teased. 

"Well, I thought about this...um, sickness," he continued. Then he looked at Kairi. "What do _ you _ think this is? No one figured it out yet." 

Kairi laughed softly, covering her mouth. This was her confirmation, though she hadn't thought of Sora actually telling her. "Well, Sora," she began, laughing again. Sora frowned. 

"What? Why are you laughing?" 

Kairi shook her head in an apologetic way. "Ah, don't worry, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that...that the way you said it." Kairi smiled, taking Sora's hand. 

Sora blinked. Now what? 

"Well, I think you, ah, I mean _that person _you read about, is _ in love _. That feeling are so called butterflies. You get dizzy from looking at a certain person and you have the feeling of melting when they touch you. It's no sickness at all, you're just experiencing _the wonders of love_." She emphasized on the last words, intentionally turning to look at Riku. 

Then she turned back and smiled brightly at Sora's flushed face. "How...how did you know I was talking about me...and.. Riku?" Sora quietly asked, confirming once again that Kairi was right. 

She tapped his forehead. "It was obvious, silly. The way you look at Riku, the way you said you loved taking care of him. It was obvious enough. I'm not blind, you know." 

Sora blushed harder, if that was possible. "So...so does that mean you think it's normal?" He frowned, wondering what _ Riku _ would say to all this. The older Riku, he meant. The little boy seemed to adore him, but what if that was just because he was a little kid understanding nothing of real love. 

Kairi chuckled. "Sora, love's never _normal_. And you can't help with whom you fall in love, I can tell you that much." She looked a little wistful for a moment, then shook her head. 

"I used to love you, you know." Sora looked up at her. "And I loved Riku, too. No, wait. I was _ in love _ with both of you." She sighed, rolling her eyes. 

"Well, I thought so. Maybe it was just a crush but you know, those things happen, you can't help it. Sometimes those things fade away after time but you usually know that. I knew that it was just a crush. Now I still love you and Riku but in a different way. I just love you without actually being in love." 

Sora understood what she was saying, he felt the same towards her. Then he frowned again. 

"What if it's only a crush I have on Riku?" he murmured, feeling uncertain now that she had mentioned that. 

"What?!" 

Sora jerked at the sudden outburst. Kairi blushed a little and calmed. "Eh, sorry." She smiled. 

"Sora, that's stupid. Usually you get a crush on someone because of his looks or something. But you...you know everything about Riku, about his person. You even know now how he behaves when he is a little boy. You've practically spent your entire childhood together and you're still inseparable. I think that says it all. You know all about Riku and you feel that way for him. It can't be just a crush, you know. Besides," 

She giggled slightly, "I wouldn't want any other girl to get you or Riku, that much I can tell you. I'd be completely jealous. But if you are together with Riku, that's perfect." 

Sora blinked in surprise at Kairi's behavior. She seemed to know and think a lot. And here he had thought she was _just a girl_. 

Kairi smiled. "I hope I could help you, Sora." 

Sora nodded, opening his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Riku running towards him, jumping into his arms. 

"Soraaaaaa!" he whined, scampering up his arms. He was grinning, though. Wakka came running after him. 

"Ha, now you're hiding, huh?" he teased, crossing his arms. The silver haired boy stuck out his tongue and clutched to Sora. 

Wakka laughed, shaking his head. "I guess this means I can go now, right?" He looked over to Sora and the boy nodded. 

"Well then, see ya some time around." 

Just as Wakka was about to leave, Riku stood up on Sora's lap and waved. "Next time I'll beat you for sure!" he called and Wakka laughed. 

Sora smiled as Riku sat back down taking Sora's arms to wrap them around himself. 

'You two better get together once Riku's a teenager again,' Kairi thought, watching as Riku tilted his head up to look at Sora. Their eyes were holding so much affection, it could only be love.

  


~To be continued.....?~ 

  
~~~~~~~~ 

  


**Ending notes:  
** The countdown is running, only a few chapters left. They keep getting longer, though. ^^  
I hope I can make the ending as sweet as I planned it...  
And I have thought of doing a sequel with Sora turning into a kid some time after Riku gets back. Would you like that?  
I wouldn't make more chapters of Strawberry Bubbles with that because I think this story needs an ending for those who don't want to read that long.   
And for all those who like to read about chibis, there will be the sequel.   
Well, if I can come up with one, that is. ^^  
Review, ne? 


	10. Preparations

** Disclaimer: **  
I'm working on it, really. Someday I will own Kingdom Hearts!! Yess! ...ehem...

** Warning: **  
can't think of any....kawaii Riku as always... 

** Author's Ranting: **  
Hmm...this chapter feels like a filler. Sora's parents will be back soon but not in this chapter.   
Next chapter, definitely. For now, Kairi's being nice, Riku's being uber-kawaii and Sora's being in love.   
Yup, that's pretty much it. 

~~~~~~~~

After having found a solution to his problems, Sora took Riku back home where he planned to clean the house before his parents came home. It had become evening by now and it was time to get everything read for the next day. 

"I could help you a little," Kairi offered. Sora considered this for a moment, then nodded. Of course Kairi's true intention was to cuddle the absolute sweetness in person - Riku. 

They went back to Sora's house, Riku in Sora's arms. The little boy turned to look at Kairi, frowning in suspicion. When Kairi looked at him, he quickly looked away, hiding in Sora's shirt. Kairi pouted slightly since she felt a little offended but on the other hand, Riku was simply too cute to be angry at him. The way he shyly turned his head to peer at her, before quickly turning back, practically rubbing his face into Sora, it was just too cute. Sora squirmed at the feeling and glanced at Kairi who held a look of pure adoration towards the silver haired boy. 

It was almost scary. 

Finally they reached the house and Sora let go of Riku, letting him play with his toys while he went to tidy up the rooms. Kairi went to help him, cleaning the kitchen as he cleaned the living room. 

"Seems like you eat a lot of instant food, lately," the auburn haired girl remarked, seeing the rows of Ramen cups standing on the kitchen counter. 

Sora sighed, scrubbing the floor. "Oh yeah. I can't wait for mom to come back, I'm really getting sick of this food." 

Kairi giggled and shook her head as she dumped the empty paper cups into the trash bin. 

"You know, you actually have a lot of stuff here. I could cook something for you and Riku, how does that sound?" Kairi had a perfect vision of her cooking Spaghetti for the two. Riku would be just too adorable, looking at the long noodles in wonder. Spaghetti was just perfect for little kids. And the ingredients were here, too! 

Sora's eyes went wide, his mouth was half open and it seemed that drool was coming from the corners of his mouth. 

"Would you...would you really do that for us?" He seemed to be ready to pounce Kairi as he ran into the kitchen, and the girl laughed. 

"Only if you promise me not to jump on me and drool onto my face like a dog." He sure seemed like doing that every moment. 

Sora blinked, then wiped at his mouth, sobering a little. "Sorry. But you know, it's been a week since I had a proper dinner. The thought of eating something other than luke-warm soup is just..." 

Kairi laughed, patting Sora's head. "Come on, you go clean the living room and I'll make some Spaghetti." 

Sora nodded eagerly and went back to his task while the girl began to look for the ingredients, setting up everything to cook. 

~

Half an hour passed and Sora was finally done as he suddenly wondered about what Riku was doing. It was so quiet and the little boy wasn't clinging to him like he used to do. It almost got him worried so Sora decided to look for him. 

As he went to his room, he found Riku sitting at his desk, drawing in concentration. He smiled at the sight. Riku scratched his head and furrowed his brows, then placed the red colored pencil back to whence he got it and took another one. He seemed to be totally absored into his drawing, not noticing that Sora was watching him. 

Eventually, he was finished and placed everything neatly back to where it had been even though Sora's desk was always messy. 

He sat back, taking the drawing into his hands to look at it. 

Sora went over to look at the sheet and blinked. There were six people on the drawing. Two were drawn bigger than the others, probably because they were supposed to be in the foreground while the others were just in the background. The two in the foreground where Sora and Riku, and Sora was amazed how well the little boy could draw. In the background, there was Kairi who looked quite nice. Next to her was Selphie. Sora chuckled. Riku had given her fangs and evil red eyes and there was drool coming from her mouth. If he had been able to write, he would have probably written 'monster' above her head. 

Then there were Wakka and Tidus. Wakka had a ball in his hand. Sora was once again amazed how well Riku could draw them and how much detail he put into the picture. 

Then his eyes came back to the two figures in the foreground. He noticed that Riku was holding something in his hand in that picture. Something star-shaped. 

"Paopu," the little boy said, pointing at the fruit just as though he had read Sora's mind. 

"Dinner's ready!" Kairi's voice chimed from the kitchen and Riku's head snapped into the direction of the door. It seemed he was surprised to hear Kairi's voice because he sat upright, looking around quickly. Seeing that Sora was the only one in this room, he turned around to him, spreading his arms towards him. 

A smile broke over Sora's face and he bent down to take Riku into his arms. 

~ 

Dinner went smoothly for the first few minutes, for Sora decided to feed Riku again. Kairi insisted on letting him eat on his own but Sora refused stubbornly. 

"No way we let him do that! You just cleaned the kitchen and there's nothing worse than a three-year-old eating Spaghetti!" 

Riku watched the two teens argue and wrinkled his nose as he saw Sora dropping the fork on the table. 

"But he's three! He is able to eat on his own! And it's Spaghetti! Kids love eating Spaghetti, you take away the fun if you feed him!" 

"Sorry, Kairi but this is not about fun! _ I _ have to clean everything afterwards and I have to take care of Riku, make sure that he's clean when he goes to bed and who knows what else--" Sora broke off immediately, realizing that he was talking just like a mother. He looked down and frowned, wondering when he had developed into something like this and when he looked up at Kairi again, he saw that she was looking somewhere else. 

Sora turned around. And gaped. 

"I told you he'd be able to handle it," Kairi whispered, watching with a smile as Riku rolled the noodles around his fork, rotating his head about 90 degrees as he watched the spectacle from another angle. It was getting more and more and there was no end. The more he spun, the more the noodles there were. He continued twisting and spinning until all of the noodles were wrapped around the fork and then he raised the lump and opened his mouth. 

Sora raised his eyebrows and suppressed a grin. This was _ not _ going to work. Of course he should be near despair now knowing that Riku was going to make a mess every other minute, but the scene before him seemed too adorable. 

Riku opened his mouth as wide as possible, closing his eyes in order to get it even wider open. Kairi giggled and covered her mouth with her hands. Riku needed full concentration. Sora was trying hard not to laugh. He watched the little boy trying to shove the pack of noodles into his mouth, which of course didn't work. The pack of noodles, which was almost as big as his face, bumped against his mouth and nose and Riku grimaced slightly, shutting his mouth again. 

Kairi squealed, causing Riku to drop the fork and cover his ears. Sora burst into laughter and nudged Kairi, then he turned to Riku and wiped at his nose. 

"You're making a mess again." 

Riku stuck out his tongue and pushed Sora away. "Am not!" he stubbornly replied and reached again to get the fork. However, he was stopped by Sora and glared at the older boy as he saw him take away the fork. 

"Come on, let's try this again. And this time try to take a little less at a time." 

Riku nodded and took the fork again. He lifted it and Sora rolled his eyes because Riku was taking all the noodles at once again. 

"Riku," he began but the silver haired boy stuck out his tongue. 

"I'll defeat it!" he spat and opened his mouth as wide as he could. 

Sora slapped his forehead and sighed. Riku was always so stubborn especially when he saw his task as a fight. Realizing that it was really not working, though, Riku frowned and put it back. 

He looked up at Sora with questioning eyes and pouted at the noodles. 

Sora snickered and patted the little boy's head. "Told ya it wouldn't work. Come on, I'll show you how to do it." 

Kairi watched as he took the fork and fed Riku with small portions. Riku didn't seem to mind that Sora was feeding him again and Kairi smiled, watching them until Riku was finished. She didn't think he was too little to eat by himself but maybe he just _ wanted _ Sora to feed him. 

After dinner, Kairi said her goodbyes and even got a little hug from Riku before she left for her own home. 

"Mom's probably waiting for me so I'll get back now. Bye bye Riku!" She blew him a kiss and Riku grimaced, hiding behind Sora. Kairi shook her head and sighed then leaned close to Sora for a second. 

"Don't forget to tell him how you feel when he's normal again." 

Riku watched them in confusion and jealousy as he saw Kairi being that close to his Sora. 

"Mine!" he complained, pushing Kairi away and hugging Sora's leg in a possessive way. 

Kairi laughed at this and nodded, giving Sora the thumbs up. Then she left and Riku glared after her, tightening his tiny arms around Sora's leg. 

~~ 

It was bedtime then and Sora let Riku take another bubble bath before they went to sleep. Riku was so happy with all the foam and bubbles, splashing around while squealing in delight. Sora loved seeing Riku like this, it made him happy. After Riku was finished, Sora brushed his teeth and then they went to the bedroom. 

They lay down and Sora had his arms around Riku. However, the little boy began to squirm around after a while. Sora, who was exhausted from the day's work, grumbled slightly and tried to hold Riku still but it didn't work. 

The boy freed himself from Sora's arms and hopped out of the bed, leaving to somewhere. Sora had no choice but to follow him since he wouldn't let him run around alone when it was dark. He wouldn't be able to reach the light switch and then he would just get himself hurt. 

"Riku, wait for me," he mumbled, pushing himself up to see where the boy was going. 

Riku skipped out of the room and ran into Sora's room where he climbed on the chair to get the drawing lying on the desk. Sora yawned and padded behind him, standing in the doorway. 

"What? You want to draw now? Come on, just go to sleep for now and finish it tomorrow." 

He saw Riku shaking his head and watched as he took a pencil. The boy added something to the picture and then nodded in approval to the outcome. 

"Finished," he proudly said, turning to grin at Sora. The older boy yawned again and nodded, turning around to walk back to the bedroom. Riku took the drawing into his hands and jumped from the chair to follow Sora. 

They lay down and Riku placed the sheet next to them, smiling at his work. Then he curled up beside Sora and closed his eyes. When he fell asleep, Sora raised his head to look at the drawing, wondering what Riku had to add. He narrowed his eyes, concentrating to see something due to the darkness, and he couldn't turn on the light without waking his little friend. So he leaned closer, straining his eyes to look at the picture. 

He saw what Riku added. And he blushed. 

On that drawing, Riku was still holding that Paopu fruit in his hand. But now Sora was also holding one and above them there was a little heart floating. 

~~~~~ 

Sora couldn't remember when he fell asleep but it must have shortly after he saw the drawing of Riku. He woke at the sound of Riku humming into his ear and opened his eyes in wonder. The little boy was sitting on his stomach with his head leaned down to Sora's ears, humming a little song to wake him up. 

He smiled and took hold of Riku to place him beside him as he sat up. 

"Morning, Riku," he greeted and Riku grinned adorably, resting his hands in his lap. 

Sora looked at the clock. And gaped in shock. 

"ALREADY 11:30 ?!" he shrieked, causing Riku to cover his ears and squeal. 

Sora blinked and stopped shrieking, causing Riku to stop squealing. He then smiled, shaking his head at the boy. Why did kids always squeal when someone else was making noise? 

But he had other worries. His parents would be back soon and what should he do with Riku? Someone had to take care of him while he welcomed his parents. The plan Kairi had worked out was clever but he needed someone... 

Wakka. He was the only one Riku would allow. 

He motioned Riku to come to him and took him into his arms as they left the house. 

"I need you to stay with Wakka for a while, ok? I'll be back as soon as I can. It won't take longer than an hour, I promise." 

Riku's eyes widened and he stared in shock at Sora, who raised his eyebrows. 

"What?" 

In no time tears were rushing down the little boy's face and he sobbed and wailed, clinging to Sora for his dear life. 

"Nooo! I don't want Wakka! I want you!" He wailed right into Sora's ear and clutched to him with all his strength. 

Sora couldn't help feeling sorry for him but he knew he had to get him stay with Wakka somehow. It really wouldn't take long. Just for a few moments when he told his parents everything was all right and then Kairi would call and he'd be back. 

Riku refused. And being stubborn, Sora knew that this wasn't going to be easy. He had to think of something. 

They reached Wakka's house and saw the boy playing outside, training a few new moves with his ball. 

"Hey Wakka," he greeted the redhead and Wakka waved at them. 

"Kairi told me you'd come here." 

Sora nodded, happy that Kairi had already taken care of that so he didn't have to explain the whole situation, wasting more than he already had. 

Riku's face was still full of tears and he refused to even look at Sora and only held on to him as if letting go meant death. 

But then an idea struck Sora and he knew that Riku would immediately agree on staying with Wakka if he used _ that _. 

"Say Riku, didn't you lose last time? You said you want to beat Wakka, right? How can you back down now?" He smirked in satisfaction as Riku suddenly let go and looked up at him with big, excited eyes. 

"You gonna beat that guy, right?" 

Aqua eyes were suddenly burning with determination and he nodded eagerly. "You bet!" he called, balling his hands to a fist. Sora smiled and nodded at him before letting him go. Riku hopped down and looked up at Sora as he tugged on his hand. 

Sora crouched down and gave him a little kiss to encourage him. Then he ruffled his hair and turned around. 

"Love you," he called before he hurried back into the direction of his home. 

Riku smiled brightly and waved after him. Then he turned around to face Wakka. 

Time for another round. Riku wouldn't lose to Wakka and disappoint Sora. He grinned. 

~To be continued.....?~ 

~~~~~~~~ 

** Ending notes: **  
Awww Riku is definitely gonna win against Wakka, right? We just know it!   
A three year old boy against a fifteen year old, it's OBVIOUS who's gonna win. ^-^  
well, that's all for now. Next chapter we will see how Sora deals with his parents yay!


	11. I won for you

** Disclaimer: **  
What's the saying? The earth is ours to share. No one really owns anything, but we as humans own everything together. Therefore I own Kingdom Hearts, right? I OWN IT! YAY!   
*gets sued*  
damn....

** Warning: **  
the beginning may be a little boring... 

** Author's Ranting: **  
Kinda Sora's POV for the most part…not first person but just…a lot of Sora in here. And his parents. And -monster Riku-. Wakka's scared of him.  
I hope you like it, though. Have fun! 

~~~~~~~~

Sora hurried back to his house. It was already noon and he hoped his parents weren't there yet. He wanted to make them think that he had been at home the whole time so that they wouldn't ask questions. As he reached his home he sighed in relief to see that everything was as he left it. 

Entering the house, he sat down in the living room to wait. He thought he could still smell the strawberry scented bubble bath but it could have been his imagination. The scent reminded him of Riku, though and suddenly Sora felt this strange butterfly-feeling again. Thinking of Riku was making him feel fuzzy inside and he began to wonder if Riku was all right on his own. 

Sure, Wakka was there to babysit him but would Riku be willing to stay there? He had been crying before when they left. And he was still so small, only three years old. What if he was scared without Sora? What if he started crying because he felt abandoned? Sora almost got up to go back to the little boy when he suddenly remembered something. 

Three-year old boy or not, Riku was Riku and he had a match going. Sora had told him to win against Wakka and Riku would do everything to make it. Sora grinned. He could almost picture Wakka being getting pummeled by a victory obsessed silver haired kid. It was such a cute picture that Sora felt the urge to go 'Awww' just from imagining it. He was sure it was currently happening and wished he could be there. 

His eyes flickered over to the clock. 

12:15. Where were his parents? Sure 'noon' could mean anything from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. but Sora was getting impatient. Kairi would call at 1 o'clock so his parents should be back by then. Otherwise it wouldn't make much sense. 

Sighing, Sora decided to do one last check. He walked into the bedroom of his parents, smoothing out the sheets with his hand and made sure everything was in its place. He found that Riku's drawing was still lying there and he blushed slightly as he saw it again. He couldn't help wondering what Riku would say about this once he was back to normal. Deciding that his parents didn't need to see that, Sora took the drawing with him. 

He left the room and went to the kitchen. The remnants of last night's dinner were still there but Sora figured it would be ok. He would just tell them that Kairi had cooked for him, which would only strengthen the idea that Kairi was such a nice and trustworthy person so that they would let him go at once when she called. 

Sora eventually strolled into his own room, realizing that he had thrown all of Riku's toys and clothes onto his bed. If his parents came to stumble across this, which they probably would as soon as they came into his room, he would have to do a lot of explaining. 

Looking at the alarm clock on his nightstand he saw that it was half past twelve now. He had to be fast if he wanted to hide the things. The only place he knew was his closet. 

"Just hope mom won't open my closet…" he muttered to himself, beginning to shove the tiny clothes in, followed by toys. When he was finished he raised his eyebrows and blinked. Had he really bought that much for the little boy? 

The closet looked as though it would burst every other second and Sora hoped his parents wouldn't ask about that. Or maybe they would even overlook it. 

'Fat chance,' Sora thought as he rolled his eyes. 

His mind came back to Riku and he looked at the drawing again. It made him smile and he sighed, pressing the sheet to his chest. It wasn't the same but at least he got something of Riku with him while they were apart. He couldn't believe how adorable the little boy was, to draw something like this, to hug and kiss him and look at him with those innocent baby-like eyes. But despite his age he sometimes still acted like the grown Riku. Like when he'd come down from that tree or when he played Sora's video games. It got Sora wondering if Riku, once he was back to his normal self, would still have at least a small part of his child personality; just like the child had a part of his teenager personality. 

He grinned. Imagining a fifteen year old Riku drawing a picture for him. It made him laugh. 

He didn't realize until he saw his reflection in the mirror on the side of the door that he was actually blushing at this thought. 

*** 

"Hey, that's all you got?" Wakka teased as he ruffled the sulking boy's hair. 

Riku was sitting on the sand with crossed arms and seemed to be in his famous sulking mode, lips drawn to a pout while he stubbornly looked at the ground. He then snapped his head up to Wakka and glared. 

"You cheated!" he accused the redhead and sprang up to raise his fists. 

Wakka couldn't help laughing at this and grinned evilly at the small boy. 

"Just because you're too short to get me doesn't mean I'm cheating, ya?" 

A growl came from the silver haired boy and his eyes seemed to be ablaze with determination. 

"You'll see, you big dumbo!" he yelled, bouncing on his feet to hit the boy. Naturally, he completely missed and didn't even reach anywhere to hit. 

Wakka just laughed, enjoying Riku's helplessness even though it was a little unfair. He knew it wasn't nice to treat him like that but it felt _ really _ good to have the upper hand against him for once. The usual cool and cocky Riku was fuming because of his incapability and Wakka loved every minute of it. 

Suddenly, however, the boy's movements stopped and he seemed to be completely still. He stood in front of Wakka with his arms dropped to his sides while he seemed to be thinking about something. Wakka watched as the little boy's brows furrowed together to a frown. His lips parted and then he raised his eyes to face Wakka. 

"I need my sword," he calmly stated, as though it was the most natural thing. Of course, to Riku, it was a completely natural thing since he'd been training with Sora for years. He was the most skilled sword-fighter on Destiny Islands and no one ever won against him. Except for Sora. Sora did win once but that was more out of luck than skill. Riku was just invincible. 

But right now he was three years old. Maybe a little more than 2 feet tall (or short) and completely unable to even lift the sword he normally used. 

"Well, your sword won't help you since it's almost bigger than you," Wakka remarked, wondering why the little boy seemed so confident and cool all of the sudden. 

The silver haired boy shook his head and waved in dismissal, skipping off to find his weapon. 

"H-hey! Wait a second!" 

The red haired teen was forced to follow him since he was supposed to take care of that brat. Riku ignored him, not out of hostility but simply because he was occupied with looking for his sword. Surprisingly enough he found it very quickly, seemingly remembering where he had put it a week ago…when he'd been fifteen. 

He stood before it, a little surprised now that he saw how big it got, or rather how small he was compared to it. But nonetheless, it was his sword and he picked it up with amazing strength so that Wakka's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. How could a small boy like him take that sword? He was holding it with both hands and struggling to keep it raised but he managed to make it somehow look like he was ready to fight. 

"Now we'll see who wins," he coolly stated, putting all his force into raising the sword to announce his attack. 

Wakka was scared. Pretty damn scared of that monster child because he had the feeling he was going to get beaten by him. Riku was Riku no matter how old he was… 

*** 

Sora sat on the living room couch, still waiting for his parents to come. It was getting 1 p.m. now. Just when he was about to cry out in frustration, he heard voices from the outside and one was, unmistakably, his mother. 

"I told you not to eat that stuff but noooo you wouldn't listen!" 

Sora smirked. Oh yes, definitely his mother. 

He heard his father cough and mutter something about stupid seafood and homemade food was always better - or something. 

Then the door opened, revealing his heavily packed parents, for they had taken almost all of their belongings with them when they left. It was a habit of theirs since they never really left home which made them quite attached to their things. 

"Oh hi, Sora! Look, dad, it's Sora. Try to smile for him, ne? You've been grumpy the whole morning!" 

Sora's father grunted and nodded his greetings. 

"I wouldn't be so grumpy if you stopped nagging…" he muttered under his breath and Sora grinned. Yup, this was his dad. Always complaining about mother but he knew he loved her. 

They were just that kind of couple, always annoying each other and telling others how terrible their partner was. 

Sora's mom nudged her husband and then went over to Sora, patting him on the head. 

"So, everything all right?" She winked at him, remembering his awkwardness on the phone. Whatever he had done, it seemed to be taken care of. 

"Yeah, sure. Everything's cool. Kairi came over yesterday and made me some food. It was great!" He grinned his adorable Sora-patented-grin and crossed his arms behind his head. 

"Aww, how sweet of her! I knew she was a nice girl. Say, Sora, why don't you, you know, get a little closer to her? Hm? She'd be such a nice daugher-in-law," the woman chirped, joking, of course. She loved to tease Sora about Kairi since he seemed to take it so seriously. 

"Mom! I won't marry Kairi! And even if I should someday I'm definitely not going to marry her _ now_!" 

Sora's father laughed and shook his head, making his way into the bedroom. 

"I was only joking, Sora. Joking," she chuckled, winking at him once again. Sora pouted but otherwise remained still. He watched as his mother went into the kitchen. She looked at everything as if to check Sora had really kept everything as it was and hadn't broken any windows or lamps as he had always done when he was little. Somehow he and Riku had always managed to break things while they played. This time, however, everything seemed perfect. Except for one thing. 

"Say, Sora. How's Riku? Was he here with you all the time?" 

Sora's eyes widened for a second but he managed to catch himself. 

"Uhh…no. He had to stay home…and do stuff…" he lied. He couldn't tell her about him turning into a kid so he had to take care of him. 

Sora's mother nodded but somehow Sora knew she didn't believe it. However, she just smiled and shrugged, turning to walk into the bedroom as well. 

"Well, I guess dad is tired and still sick. I'll be nursing him all day 'cause you know how whiny he gets when he feels sick. I guess you should just go visit Kairi or something unless you want to help me?" 

Sora shrugged, not really knowing what to answer. He had planned to leave when Kairi called him but he had also expected that his parents wanted him to stay. Now what? He was totally out of his concept. 

It was only then when the phone rang and Sora's mom went to get it. 

"Hello? Oh, Sora, yes he's here. One second." 

She handed him the receiver and Sora sighed. 

"Kairi?" 

He was surprised, though. 

"Err, no, it's me, Tidus. Selphie said I should call you…I have no idea why, though. She said something about Kairi being stuck in the mall with her parents and yeah…I called you. Is there anything else I must do?" 

Sora shook his head. Then he realized he had to _ say _ something since he was talking on the phone. 

"Nope, that's all. Thanks." 

Tidus shrugged and hung up, not really knowing what was going on. 

Sora's mother was standing in the doorway, looking a little funnily at her son. 

"Why did you believe it was Kairi?" she asked, raising one eyebrow in question. 

Sora shrugged. "Guessed? Well, I was wrong." He had the feeling that she wanted something. And worse, she _knew_ something. 

But his worries were immediately gone when she nodded and proceeded to see his father. 

She only stopped after a few steps, lowering her head and voice as she spoke. 

"There are three plates in the kitchen…unless one of you has a split personality and needs two plates for one body…" she paused, smiling a little at that, "you and Kairi weren't alone. I don't know why you're hiding something but I guess I won't bother you anymore. That phone call seemed to be a planned action to get you out of here…that's why you thought it was Kairi. She was supposed to call, right?" 

Sora gulped. How did she know all this? He opened his mouth to explain but his mother went on. 

"Whatever it is, I think you're old enough to take care of yourself. You're probably just playing around, anyway, right? So…go before the others worry about you. Have fun," she smiled brightly as she turned to wave at him. 

"…and say hi to Riku." She winked, and then finally went into the bedroom for good. 

Sora was left alone in the living room and stared after her. Since when was she Sherlock Homes? 

*** 

Riku struggled with the weight of his weapon but his movements were fast and graceful, showing his years of practice even though he was so little. 

Wakka found himself dodging the most impossible attacks and the fact that Riku was so short made all of his attacks even more unpredictable. Riku moved with such determination and confidence that Wakka wondered if the teenager's mind was actually in this child's body. It sure seemed like it. 

"Easy, Riku," he warned the boy who suddenly seemed to be dragged down by his sword. 

But in that moment, when Wakka had his guards down, Riku raised himself and his sword, striking the boy with one clean hit, which sent him staggering backwards. 

Wakka's eyes were wide in shock and he coughed, backing away from the silver haired boy. 

Riku dropped his sword and plopped down on the ground, breathing heavily. He panted for a few minutes, exhausted from the whole battle while Wakka stared at him with an incredulous look. 

Had this boy just beaten him? 

As if on cue, Riku raised his gaze to meet Wakka's and he was wearing the most confident and proud smile. 

"I won!" the boy squealed as the smile spread over his face. 

Although Wakka tried to fight it, he eventually gave in and smiled, too, finding it too adorable to stay shocked or angry. Riku was so content and happy with himself that he seemed to shine and glow. It must have been the greatest feeling for the little boy. 

Suddenly, however, the smile was gone and Riku fell backwards with a thud. 

Wakka flinched and quickly bent down to see what happened. His concern was gone as soon as he saw the boy's peaceful expression and calm breathing. 

Riku had fallen asleep. Rather adorable, when he thought about it. Smiling, Wakka gathered the boy in his arms and brought him back to his house where he was supposed to be waiting for Sora. 

When he reached there, he saw that Sora was already sitting on a rock, frowning as he waited. He looked like an overly concerned mother. 

Wakka came over and gave him Riku. 

"Here. Your kid's back." 

Sora blinked and cradled the sleeping boy in his arms, smiling slightly when he felt Riku snuggle against him. 

"What happened?" he quietly asked, not wanting to wake his friend. 

Wakka shrugged, not really feeling like telling him about his lost battle. Losing against a three year old boy was not something you told anyone. 

Sora, however, understood the silence, and he wasn't surprised. 

"I just knew it…" he murmured, smiling slightly and apologetically at Wakka. "You know, he's just too much Riku to be a little kid…he won't lose to anyone." 

Wakka nodded at that. "He's scary," he admitted, grinning as Sora chuckled. 

"Yep, I guess he is," the brunet answered, getting up to leave. 

"Well then, we're off now. We'll be staying at Riku's place until he gets back to normal. It's only today and tomorrow...then the magic will be over." 

Wakka couldn't help but notice the change in Sora's tone. Did he sound sad? 

They said goodbye to each other and Sora left into the direction of Riku's house, tightening his arms around the sleeping boy as he went. He never wanted to let go again and for a moment he wished Riku could stay like this so he would always be able to hold him in his arms. 

"…Sora…?" Riku stirred, whispering the older boy's name. Sora looked down and brushed the hair out of Riku's face, bending down to place a kiss on his forehead. 

"I'm here," he whispered back, reassuring the boy to go back to sleep. Riku had his eyes closed but he smiled, relaxing once again. When Sora thought he was asleep, Riku suddenly opened one eye, smiling proudly. 

"I won, Sora. I won for you." 

Sora smiled and nodded, bending down again to kiss his forehead. 

"Thanks." 

Then Riku really fell asleep and cuddled with Sora's shirt, breathing slowly and contently. Sora felt like his heart was going to burst and he barely contained the smile on his lips. 

_ "I won for you"_

'Riku…'

~To be continued.....?~ 

~~~~~~~~ 

** Ending notes: **  
I hope you liked it! The beginning was kinda lame cause I had to get into writing this…it takes a while for me to get started…but the end was nice, wasn't it?  
Next chapter… Riku and Sora spend time at Riku's house. And then they go to sleep...and then it's the last day. I nearly lost track of the days... but we still have 2. well, one and a half. So two chapters I guess. Then chibi Riku's gone! Awww...  
But the story won't end there because, ya know, Sora's in love with someone. And Riku just said he won for Sora and we all know that's gotta lead to somewhere, ne?   
Strawberry Bubbles will not end before we get a happy ending heh…well unless you want it to stop before that. *shrugs*   
Anything for my readers ^^  
Ja, review and tell me what you think! 


	12. Your Tao Tao, My Sora

** Disclaimer: **  
I do not own a brain or sanity or intelligence!

..oh, and I don't own Kingdom Hearts either...

** Warning: **  
mmm....kawaii Riku? 

** Author's Ranting: **  
Ok now for something no one is interested in but I feel like telling you anyway. I'm pissed. Oh so very pissed off and I feel like going berserk if things keep going that bad.   
BUT, since I feel so bad, I decided to make my life more livable and wrote the next chapter full of fluffy kawaiiness!   
So I hope you enjoy it, have fun with chibi Riku, our kawaii monster ^__^   
Also, this chapter is a bit longer than I usually write… 

~~~~~~~~

Afternoon came and Sora watched Riku sleep peacefully on the couch. They had gone to Riku's house now and Sora hadn't been surprised to see that little note on the kitchen table saying 'Riku honey, be an angel and make yourself dinner, we're not coming home until after midnight. Love, mom and dad.' 

Sora had shaken his head and rolled his eyes although he couldn't say he didn't like it the way it was. If his parents weren't so careless the whole turning into a kid thing would have been a disaster. Riku was glad about their nonchalance, too, at least when he was a teenager. His parents gave him much more freedom than Sora's and so the two boys could always escape to this place when they needed to get away from the nosy family. 

It must have been hard for a little kid, though, Sora thought. He remembered when he had asked the three-year old boy about his parents, if he remembered them. He had answered that they were mean because they were never at home. It must have felt like that for a child. 

"Poor Riku…" he murmured, gently stroking over the silver hair. The boy didn't seem to notice and remained in his slumber since the fight with Wakka had obviously exhausted him. 

Being at Riku's house brought back a row of things Sora always liked to remember. There was this one time when they were about eight years old and they had spent the night alone since Riku's parents were away, again for some business. They had been doing all those forbidden things like jumping around on the bed or rummaging through cupboards and desks to finally see what those grown ups had to hide. They had eaten sweets in the middle of the night until they had to throw up and they climbed out of the window only to come back through the front door again. 

These things had kept them entertained when they were young. 

But things were different now. 

Of course, everything was still just as good as before because Sora loved every second he spent with Riku. Things were just different. They didn't run around as much. They didn't find it interesting to rummage through other people's desks. They were less mischievous. They didn't eat sweets in the middle of the night. In fact, they rarely had those sleepovers nowadays. Sora wondered what it would be like to sleep at Riku's house or have him stay over the night. It was natural with the little boy but what would be once he was older again? It would feel awkward, even though they were both boys…or maybe it was because they were both boys. Boys just didn't do this stuff. Sleepovers were for girls. But so were crushes and butterflies, Sora thought. And still, here he was sitting, watching his crush – or was it love? – in his sleep with a serene expression. 

He sighed. Smiling a bit, he decided to take the silver haired boy into his arms. Watching him curled up like that was just too tempting. Sora chuckled as he felt the little boy struggle a bit, just for the sake of it, since Riku never liked to be overpowered, even in his sleep. Eventually, however, the boy gave in and snuggled closer as though he had felt that it was Sora. The idyll didn't last long, though. 

As soon as Sora had his arms securely wrapped around him, the boy stifled a yawn and opened his eyes. He blinked a few times and proceeded to rub the sleep out of his eyes. It seemed he didn't even realize he was in Sora's arms. Or maybe he did but didn't care much about it since for him, it was the most natural thing. 

Eventually, Riku yawned again, stretching his mouth wider and wider until Sora had to chuckle. Riku's mouth dropped shut and he grinned, looking up at the brunet with his big, innocent eyes. Sora melted. 

"Hey, Sora!" he suddenly exclaimed with urgency. 

Riku disentangled himself from the protective arms and stood up on Sora's lap, coming face to face with the boy. He smiled brightly and spread his arms. Sora smiled back and raised his eyebrows, wondering what Riku was planning to do. He didn't have much time, though, because the next moment Riku let himself fall forward, into Sora's arms. His own little hands grasped the older boy's shoulders and his face bumped into Sora's, causing him to giggle happily at Sora's slightly annoyed expression. 

"What are you doing?" 

Riku giggled some more and placed a kiss on Sora's nose. 

"Kissing you, silly. What does it look like?" The silver haired boy pulled away but only for a few inches, locking eyes with the other boy. He seemed serious. 

Sora stared. He wasn't sure if he was imagining things but it almost seemed as though Riku was already himself. Or at least his true self was showing slowly now. Still, Sora was surprised at the amazingly mature tone in Riku's voice. That remark certainly did not sound like the words of a three year old boy. Was that a sign for Riku's transformation? Was he going to be normal soon now? 

"Where are we?" 

Sora blinked as Riku's childish voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked around and then his eyes came to rest on Riku, who was looking around as well. Didn't Riku recognize his home? 

"We're in your house. You live here," Sora casually answered, trying to decipher the strange expression on Riku's face. The little boy drew his brows together into a frown as he carefully examined the room. Slowly, he turned back to Sora, looking at him with his aqua eyes. 

"I thought I live with you…" he murmured in confusion, screwing up his little face to a frown. He almost looked like he was going to cry. Sora shook his head, then realized that that wasn't what he meant and opened his mouth to explain. 

"Well, you do live with me. Or at least I live with you, here. We were at my house for this week because my parents were away but now we ha---" He stopped in mid-sentence as he saw that the little boy had a short attention span and was already trying to get off his lap. Obviously, curiosity took over, something Riku had always had, and the silver haired boy started rummaging through everything in the room. Sora just watched him, slightly torn inside. Should he stop Riku from turning the room into a mess? After all, it was his house, so he was allowed to do whatever he wanted. 

Sora mentally kicked himself. What a lame excuse. He was just too lazy to get up and stop Riku from throwing all the stuff off the cupboards and that was his only excuse. It was Riku's house. Yeah right. 

Sighing, Sora noticed that Riku wasn't just turning the room into a mess for the sake of it. He was searching for something. He watched as the boy sat on the floor, digging through another cupboard. At some point he even crawled in to get better access and Sora would have laughed if it weren't for the sudden cry of protest from the inside. 

He quickly got up to look what Riku had done now and found the boy stuck in the small space. Riku was twisting and growling but instead of trying to get out he was still looking for something. 

Eventually, Sora poked him to get his attention. 

"Shouldn't you try to get out? I'll help you, come on." 

He was surprised to hear Riku snap at him. "Don't touch me! I'm fine! I can do it!" His voice was extremely pouty by then and he was whining about something he couldn't reach. Damn those big cupboards. 

Sora rolled his eyes and decided to pull him out anyway. Riku squealed and started kicking but Sora was stronger and pulled him out with a grin. The silver haired boy stuck out his tongue and scowled. 

"I told you to leave me alone! I could have done it by myself…" he muttered, refusing to look up at the other boy. 

Sora chuckled and shook his head. He then noticed the thing Riku was holding. 

"Riku…what's that?" He tried to take it but Riku glared at him and clutched to it as though his life depended on it. 

"That's mine! Tao Tao's mine!" He tightened his grip on the stuffed panda bear and Sora scratched his head. 

"Tao Tao?" he asked in disbelief. He remembered the name but he didn't know Riku still had this thing. He also couldn't quite believe that Riku would remember where it was since he had never taken it out in all these years. Sora thought he had lost it. 

"My Tao Tao," Riku insisted, eyeing Sora suspiciously. He wouldn't let anyone take away that panda. 

Sora suddenly grinned and reached out to pat the little kid's head. "Right. Your Tao Tao." He remembered now. This Tao Tao had been his favorite toy when they were little. He would drag it with him all the time and Sora often wanted to hold it too but Riku wouldn't let him. Only one time, Sora remembered, Riku said he could have it but only if he promised to not run away with it. Sora had taken it very seriously back then, since he was only four or five years old and he had vowed to Riku to never run off with the panda and Riku had him take an oath on it and all that stuff. 

All in all, Riku loved that thing, always had. But then one day it was gone and Riku didn't seem to know where it was. And it became another forgotten thing of their past as they grew up. Sora never thought about the panda anymore and Riku probably forgot about it, too. The funny thing now was that it was here. After all this time it had been hiding in a cupboard? And Riku remembered it? 

"You can have it if you promise me…" 

"…not to run off with it, I know," Sora finished, smiling at the memory. 

Riku, however, shook his head. "No. You can have it if you promise me to never leave me." 

This caught Sora off guard and he stared at the boy, baffled. 

"…what?" 

Did Riku know what he was talking about? What in the world did he mean by that? But Sora had no time to think about that, for the silver haired boy shoved the panda into his face. 

"Take it – but as long as you have it, you have to be with me." 

His lips were drawn to a pout and he lowered his head before he shyly looked up again, eyes half covered by his hair. 

"…please?" he added, thrusting the stuffed toy forward once more. 

Sora was sure his heart was pounding about a thousand times faster than usually and he was also sure that it was not good. If it kept on beating like that, it would probably burst. Hesitantly, he lifted his hands to take the toy but he stopped right before he actually held it. He looked at Riku again and saw that the boy was still looking at him with an almost pleading expression. If Sora only knew what this meant. 

Without thinking any longer, Sora gently grabbed the panda and Riku let go. He watched as Riku's pout turned into a smile. The smile on his face broadened as Sora patted the toy and then Riku launched himself towards Sora, jumping right into his arms. 

"My Sora!" he giggled, hugging his new toy. 

Sora laughed and ruffled Riku's hair. 

"But my Tao Tao, right?" 

Riku nodded eagerly and then resumed digging his face into Sora's shirt. 

"Your Tao Tao and my Sora…" he happily mumbled, causing Sora to blush a little at the feeling. Riku's moving lips over his stomach tickled him somewhat and it made him feel extremely weird. And worst of all, he couldn't help imagining the grown Riku doing that to him. That and a few other things which got him feeling even weirder. The thought of Riku kissing him was maddening and the fact that the little boy was doing it constantly, taking it as the most common thing was slowly driving him crazy. 

"Let's stop that now…" he muttered, more to himself than to Riku but gently pushed the boy away to get up. 

Riku watched him with a bit of disappointment but dropped the sad expression as Sora gestured him to follow. He bounced up and was soon beside his friend, tugging on his hand. 

"What are we doing now?" he curiously inquired at the other boy's smiling face. 

"First, we'll get something to eat. I'm sure you're getting hungry soon and I'm hungry as well." 

Riku nodded and then grinned. "Ice cream!" he squealed, bouncing up and down while he pulled on Sora's hand. 

The older boy smiled but shook his head. "Not for dinner, Riku. But we'll find something good, I promise." 

Riku shrugged and walked beside Sora, following him into the kitchen. 

"And what do we do after that?" The silver haired boy asked, climbing onto one of the chairs. Sora paused and put a finger to his chin, thinking. 

"I don't know…we'll watch TV or do something. Whatever you want." He then proceeded to look through the fridge and the cupboards. He was sure they had something edible in there since Riku always had to make himself dinner when his parents weren't there. Of course, they could also eat some take out stuff but he wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Firstly, he knew no numbers and secondly, he doubted Riku would like eating that stuff. All he wanted was ice cream. Sora chuckled and rolled his eyes. 

In the meantime Riku was standing on the chair, looking at the funny things on the table. There was a salt shaker standing in the middle and the little boy smiled cheekily at his ingenious idea. Taking a short glance at Sora, he made sure the boy was still searching for food. Nodding in approval, Riku turned back to the salt shaker, taking it into his hand. He opened the cap and began to scatter the salt over the table. 

Sora suddenly looked up, just as though he had sensed something was going on and he snapped his head to the boy at the table. 

His eyes widened and he lunged towards the salt shaker, grabbing it from the boy's hands. 

"What do you think you're doing?!" he scolded, staring at the mess Riku had made. 

But then he blinked, frowned, and blinked again. There was no mess. 

"I just…" Riku mumbled something unintelligible and then heaved a sigh, pouting once more. Sora looked down at the table and stared in wonder and amazement. There was a name written with salt. 

"How…how did you do that?" Sora asked in pure amazement. The little boy looked up and shrugged, pointing at the salt shaker. 

"I used that?" he offered, shrugging again. 

Sora chuckled and shook his head. "Ehm, I know you used that. But I mean…you can write?" Once again he was confused about this boy. 

Riku shook his head. Sora frowned. 

"And what's that?" 

Riku looked at what he had done with the salt. He cocked his head and studied his work. Then he nodded to himself and looked up at Sora again. 

"It's your name," he answered. 

The brunet nodded. Okay, this made no sense. Riku was three years old and could not write. He just said so. And still he'd been able to write Sora's name. And he knew he was doing it. Sora sighed. No use in trying to analyze what was happening. Things hadn't been normal to begin with so why bother to explain things that didn't even matter? 

But for some part of Sora it did matter. It mattered to him because this was another of those little incidents that gave him the impression Riku had feelings for him. And it drove him mad because what if all of this would vanish once the week was over? And there were only this night and the next day left! 

"Can we eat now?" Riku suddenly whined, causing Sora to snap out of thoughts. 

"Uh…sure. As soon as I find something…" He went back to search for something appropriate while Riku sat on the chair to watch him. It seemed another idea struck him and he started to grin again. Carefully, he slid off the chair and tiptoed towards Sora, who had his back turned to him. He was muttering something, searching through the cupboard on the left side. 

Riku grinned and jumped, wrapping his arms around Sora's waist. He nuzzled into the other boy's back, making Sora squeak involuntarily. 

Sora tried to tilt his head back so he could see what Riku was doing but it was no use. Riku giggled and started tickling Sora with his tiny hands. 

"S-Stop!" Sora demanded, unable to sound angry when the adorable boy was tickling him mercilessly. He couldn't help laughing and tried to grab Riku behind him. It turned into a tickling match, Riku tickling Sora's stomach while Sora jabbed the kid's sides. 

"Not fair!" Riku exclaimed, eventually breaking down into a fit of laughter. Sora was equally exhausted by the tickling assault and dropped down to sit on the floor, watching Riku lie there eagle spread. 

The boy heaved a content sigh and closed his eyes. Sora smiled at that and leaned down to kiss his forehead but was surprised as Riku lifted his arms to wrap them around his neck. He was pulled down and their lips met, even if it was just a clumsy little kiss. Sora felt like burning up and quickly pulled away to stare down at the boy. 

He was having a strangely sober expression – definitely not the expression of a three year old boy. His eyes were deep and serious. Or was Sora seeing things? 

Riku smiled. And then he rolled over, curling up on the kitchen floor. 

"Get something to eat. I'll wait here," he mumbled, closing his eyes tightly. 

Sora didn't know what to make of that. All he knew was that Riku was the most adorable being of the universe and that he wanted to hold him right now. He smiled and picked him up, earning a surprised squeak from the child. 

"Hey–" Riku protested but then stopped. Sora held him close, tugging his head under his chin. 

'Just for a while…' Sora thought, 'Just for a while I want to hold him…' 

Riku hugged him back, as though he knew what the other boy was thinking. 

*** 

After they had finally found something to eat, namely cheeseburgers made in the microwave, Riku had decided he needed more sleep. 

Obviously the day had been too tiring for him and his eyes were already dropping shut every other second although he was struggling to stay awake to watch Sora tidy up the room he had messed up before. 

Eventually he gave in and lay down, starting to drift off into sleep. 

Sora noticed, maybe due to some kind of mother instincts, and decided to brush Riku's teeth before taking the boy into his room. It was still early but Riku wanted to sleep, so Sora had to stay with him. He didn't mind at all. 

"The bed's smaller than the one we used to occupy…but it's ok, right?" Sora asked, pulling the comforter over the little body. 

"Mmm…." Came the muffled reply and Sora realized Riku was already too far gone to even notice anything. He smiled and ran his hand through the hair, earning a pleased sigh. He lay down with him and it was no problem since Riku was small enough to not use much space. 

Sora stayed awake for a few more hours while Riku slept peacefully. It was about midnight when he heard noise coming from outside the room and he decided to check it out. A wave of realization hit him when he heard the muffled voices. 

"He's probably sleeping already, like always. Don't wake him." 

Sora stepped outside to see a woman rummaging through the fridge. Then a man came from the bathroom and rubbed his eyes. 

"Let's follow his example and go to sleep, too." 

They turned and both came to see Sora standing in the doorway to Riku's room. 

They raised their eyebrows in unison and both opened their mouths to speak. 

"Hello, Sora," they greeted him simultaneously. 

"Um, hello…" he answered, not quite sure what to do. 

However, he didn't have to do anything because Riku's parents waved at him and walked towards their bedroom. 

"Go to sleep. Riku's going to get up earlier than you and he'll probably wake you then so you better get some sleep." 

They wandered off and shut the door to their room. 

Sora blinked. 

Living with them was easier than he thought. He was even sure they could have stayed here the whole week without having them notice. Too bad the week was almost over… Sora frowned and walked back into Riku's room. When he came back in he saw that the little boy was sitting on the bed. 

"You liar," he sulked, crossing his arms. 

Sora blinked and quickly went to sit down on the bed. "What? What did I do?" 

Riku continued to sulk. 

Sora sighed and gently pushed him to lie down again. He lay beside him and stroked his cheek. 

"I didn't leave, if that's what you think. I just went to see what the noise was about." 

After not getting any response, he assumed Riku had fallen asleep again so he closed his eyes and relaxed. 'Might as well go to sleep,' he thought. 

"My Sora…" he heard a soft muttering and then felt Riku wrap his arms around him as well as he could. "Mine…" 

Sora smiled sleepily but didn't open his eyes. He mimicked the boy's ministrations and took him into his arms. 

"Yours…"

~To be continued.....?~ 

~~~~~~~~ 

** Ending notes: **  
Whooo that was long. And wasn't it sweet? I thought it was sweet. Makes me feel a little better now… But then again the next chapter's the last one with Chibi Riku! Pity it has to end…but still. The story will keep going for a while because it's inevitable for those two to come together. Since everyone who reviewed wanted a happy ending for them , I'll write it!   
Oh and about that panda… does anyone know Tao Tao? There was a cartoon…actually an anime, when I was about chibi Riku's age. I loved this panda. And last week I saw my little cousin have this stuffed panda and I just had to write that ^^   
Okay, that's all for this time. Review and stay tuned! 


	13. The Last Day

** Disclaimer: **  
If you don't know it by now you're stupid. I. Don't. Own. Kingdom Hearts. *sigh* ****

Warning:   
be ready for the last day of chibi Riku! 

** Author's Ranting: **  
Um...sorry? I apologize for this chapter. It is not worthy of being called the last day. It was planned to be mortifyingly cute and sweet because it's chibi Riku's last day and...*sobsob* I'm just too sad to write it better. I don't want him to vanish! But it has to be...for the sake of this story *sobsob*  
However! This chapter is twice as long as usually so yay!   
Well, here we go. The bubble bursts! chibi's gonna be big again... I hope it's somewhat okay...   
(I'm having a major headache so be gentle with it...I was really trying my best) 

~~~~~~~~

It was early morning when Sora woke from his uneasy sleep and strange dreams. He didn't feel Riku holding him, not like it had been last night but he knew that the boy was still there, for he could hear and feel the soft breathing against the back of his neck. 

His head hurt a bit and he felt dizzy and drowsy but that wasn't what bothered him. The thing that had kept him worrying all night was nothing like headaches or other pains regarding his body… it was rather the fear of this day. Today was the last day with Riku and Sora felt strangely anxious about it. He wasn't sure what it would be like once the magic was over. He wasn't sure whether Riku would remember and he wasn't sure whether he should pretend it never happened, pretend to not have that fluttery feeling whenever he saw his friend. 

Sora sighed and carefully rolled over to look how Riku was doing. 

A smile graced his lips when his gaze fell on his small companion, curled up next to him, wrapped up in the blankets. The small, round cheeks were flushed and his lips were thrust forward in an unconscious pout as little children often do in their sleep. He wrinkled his stubby nose for a moment and made a slight grimace before turning slightly to continue sleeping peacefully. The turning was kind of hard since he had wrapped the blanket so tightly around himself, making it nearly impossible to move. 

Sora decided to sit up and shifted so that he could watch Riku from above. He tentatively reached out and brushed his hands over the boy's forehead. He stroked over the silver hair and played with it for a while before heaving another sigh. His smile faded and turned into a thoughtful expression. Surely, he would miss the young boy. Surely, he would miss the hugs and kisses. But didn't he miss his old friend? All the time in this week, hadn't he missed the cocky fifteen-year-old teen? His long time best friend and rival? 

Of course he had. At day he was busy taking care of the kid but at night…there wasn't a night when he hadn't thought of the older version of his friend. And he had been constantly worrying about how it would all go on. 

A wave of excitement flooded in him suddenly as he wondered what it would be like to receive those innocent kisses and hugs from the older Riku. It sent his stomach doing back flips and he felt his cheeks get incredibly warm, giving a tingling sensation. 

"No…how can I think like that…" he muttered to himself, shaking his head a little. Riku wouldn't be like that once he was back to normal. The only reason little Riku did those things was…it was because… 

Sora paused in his thoughts and remembered the drawing. The Paopu in their hands and the heart above them. If he only knew what the boy was thinking. Probably nothing, his inner voice reasoned. Little children didn't think much; they acted on instinct. But didn't that mean his instincts told him he loved Sora? 

The brunet shook his head again. "No he doesn't. He doesn't love me like that. He likes me a lot…that's why he keeps saying those things…" 

It was then that Riku stirred, causing Sora to focus his attention back on the boy. His eyelids fluttered curtly but they remained closed and eventually he fell, again, back to sleep. Sora frowned and looked down to contemplate further. However, the short moment of seeing Riku stir made his mind drift and he found his eyes glued to his friend again. 

He couldn't help smiling as Riku continued to sleep in that tight cocoon of blankets and it got him wondering how exactly he had managed to turn into a living sushi role. No wonder Sora had felt cold all night long. Riku stole his blanket! 

But how could Sora ever be angry with that boy? It just wasn't possible, so instead, he just caressed the flushed cheeks with his thumb and leaned down to place a soft kiss on his forehead. 

"Sora…" 

Sora's ears perked up and he pulled away to see Riku's lips moving. His eyes were slowly starting to open and his lips were parted, half moving to form words. 

"Morning, Riku," he greeted the boy, smiling brightly. 

The little boy stifled a yawn and blinked his eyes to wake up properly. He attempted to lift his hands to his face, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes but he found himself trapped somehow. Blinking and frowning, he tried to move his hands again, just to have them blocked. He finally opened his eyes fully and looked around. There was Sora next to him, which gave him a feeling of safety. But there was a slight problem, he noted. 

"Can't move," he complained, turning to Sora with pleading, helpless eyes. 

The smile on Sora's lips broadened at the adorable statement and he reached out to unwrap the boy. That, however, wasn't as easy as it seemed and the fact that Riku had to squirm around only made it worse. "Stop twisting, I'll free you from it," Sora reassured, getting slightly annoyed at the tightness of the blankets. Somehow they were always winded up, no matter what he did. 

Riku fought bravely against the evil blanket that prevented him from moving while Sora told him to stay still. 

At least half an hour passed and they had made no progress. Instead, Sora was tangled in the sheets and blankets with Riku somehow attached. 

"What the hell…?" Sora growled and kicked his way free, finally ripping the sheets away to push off the blankets. Riku looked at him with big, wide eyes and opened his mouth. 

"You said a bad word!" he exclaimed, pointing with his finger. 

Sora sighed and shook his head, making sure that he pushed all of the bed sheets and blankets off the bed so there was no chance to get entangled again. 

"You said a bad word! You said it! I heard you!" 

Riku seemed persistent and Sora could only think of one way of shutting him up. 

He caught the boy in his arms and kissed him - on the lips. 

Riku didn't seem too surprised, not by the kiss, that is. He was surprised that someone cut him off while he was busy scolding for using foul language but not because it was a kiss. He loved kisses with Sora. 

After the brunet pulled away, Riku blinked at him for several times before shrugging his shoulders. He seemed to have stopped his accusations and smiled brightly and mischievously before tackling Sora's waist to rub his face against the other boy's stomach. 

"H-hey!" Sora warned him as Riku giggled into his shirt, tickling him with his movements. As Sora tried to pry him off somehow, Riku clung to him and smiled. 

He hugged Sora's waist again and then started to climb him like a mountain, starting from his stomach where he had been up to his face so he could lean down to his ear. 

"We'll always be like this, right?" 

It sent a shiver down Sora's spine and the words nearly broke his heart. Riku didn't know what he was saying. He didn't know what Sora felt for him, did he? 

So instead of answering, Sora chose to pat his head and then pushed him off. 

"How about breakfast, Riku?" he asked, changing the subject. 

Riku nodded eagerly and hopped of the bed, rubbing his hands over his face. It was so adorable that Sora couldn't help smiling again. Might as well enjoy this last day, he thought. 

~~~ 

Riku's parents were gone already so there was no problem in wandering around the house. Sora knew that he had seen his favourite cereal somewhere in the cupboards so he made his way to look for it. Riku always had Sora's favourite cereal in his house although he himself didn't like it that much. Sora wondered why he would keep the food if he didn't like it but shrugged it off eventually. 

"Now sit down there and don't play around with things on the table, ok?" 

Riku nodded and sat down like a good boy. Sora gave him a suspicious look but then proceeded to get their breakfast. He had the feeling that Riku was doing something again but when he looked back he could only see the little boy watching the surface of the table as though it was the most interesting thing on earth. 

Coming back with two bowls of cereal he set them on the table, seemingly startling Riku as he did so. The little boy looked up at him a little puzzled and then eyed the bowl in front of him. 

"That stuff?" he complained, screwing his face up in disgust. Sora frowned and then pouted a little, crossing his arms. 

"Well, I think it's good. You can go make yourself something else if you don't want it," he huffed, sitting down to eat. 

Riku snorted and crossed his arms, stubbornly sitting at the table and glared at his bowl. 

"There's no way I'm eating this," he declared, giving Sora a serious look. 

It almost felt like arguing with the older Riku. Sora remembered doing that quite often, actually. Riku would always complain about how Sora could eat that sugary junk and it always had to be cereal and nothing but cereal. Sora could almost hear the older boy in his head and he rolled his eyes. So what if he had a slight obsession about cereal. Riku had no right to condemn him! He was… 

"Then don't. Tell me, what _do_ you want?" Sora eventually asked, reminding himself that it was not a fifteen-year-old boy he was talking to but a little helpless kid. A little helpless kid that sounded awfully like a teenager. 

Riku mumbled something but it was too quiet to be heard and Sora just waited for him to say it clearly. The boy shook his head, though and began taking up the spoon into his hand. Sora watched with interest as Riku began to eat. His movements were clumsy and he spilled half of the milk but he did eat on his own. Sora didn't know whether to be worried about the fact Riku didn't want to be fed or proud because he managed to eat on his own. 

After a while he stopped and frowned. He bit his lip, still holding the spoon in his hand and then held it out to Sora. 

He looked down at the spilt milk and cereal and lowered his head in shame. Sora raised his eyebrows at that and took the spoon from Riku's grasp. He didn't say anything because it seemed Riku found it more than humiliating to be so helpless. Such a pride even as a little kid; Sora shook his head with a small smile. They finished breakfast then and it was time to do something. 

But what? 

Riku had climbed onto Sora's lap again and was playing with the silver chain Sora was wearing around his neck. It was so shiny; he liked it. 

Sora, however, was slightly bored. He didn't know what to do, nor did he want to do anything but then again doing nothing would only make it more boring. It was the last day, after all. How would they spend it? Of course, he couldn't tell Riku that it was the last day, he wouldn't understand. 

Sighing in annoyance, Sora closed his eyes and only opened them when he felt that Riku was leaving the spot on his lap. 

"Where are you going?" he asked as the boy began to make his way out of the kitchen. 

"Where's Tao Tao?" Riku asked, looking around. 

Sora pointed towards the door. "In the bed. I can get him for you if you want," he offered, already getting up to walk towards the bedroom. Riku waited until Sora was back with the panda in his hands. He held it out towards Riku and expected the boy to take him. He didn't, though. 

"No, you take him. He's yours. But take good care of him because then I'll take good care of you too," Riku stated and it sounded so logical and rational even with his childlike voice. Sora chuckled and nodded, tugging the panda under his arm as he followed Riku out. It seemed the boy was heading somewhere and Sora just followed, finding himself outside the house all of the sudden. Riku knew exactly where he was going and Sora just followed him. They ended up on the beach where they used to play in their childhood. They sometimes even played here now. But most of the times they just trained and dueled. 

"Here," Riku announced, plopping down on the spot he had pointed at. Sora lifted an eyebrow and kneeled down. 

"What's here?" he asked, looking around. 

Riku rolled his eyes heavenwards as though Sora had just asked a very stupid question. He shook his head in a dismissing motion and then began to heap up the sand around him. The waves of the ocean grazed them and Riku giggled at the tickling feeling of water hitting his feet, making Sora smile once again. It seemed he had to smile the entire time. 

Riku made a heap and worked with full concentration as the heap developed into something interesting. Sora watched the boy, still holding the panda bear in his hands, as Riku built a sand castle. 

"Someday I'm gonna build a castle big enough to live in!" Riku happily announced, spreading his arms to emphasize his words. "Thaaaaat big," he added, gesturing around with his hands. 

Sora laughed and nodded. "I'm sure you'll do that." 

Riku grinned and went back to work. The sand was everywhere, even in his hair, but he didn't seem to mind. Sora occasionally reached out to brush it off his head or clothes while Riku formed towers and rooftops. He had a talent for building those things, he'd always had. Sora remembered the time they used to build sand castles together. Sora would always make them small and plain while Riku had to make them huge and fancy. His were also better built and so he often helped Sora with his own so that the castles were equal. 

"When the castle's big enough you can come live with me," Riku absently murmured as he formed out the windows. He used his little fingers to dig small holes into the towers, carefully hollowing them out. 

Sora had to smile again. The little boy was focusing all his concentration on the windows and extra decorations just as though the castle meant everything to him. 

"That would be great," Sora then replied, ruffling the boy's hair. He felt how the boy pushed up against his hand and chuckled at the protesting whines coming from him. 

"Don't mess up my hair!" the silver haired boy complained, shaking his head like a puppy. A lot of sand flew off the silver strands and hit Sora's face. 

"Hey, hey." Sora rubbed his face to clean off the grains. 

Riku just grinned and stuck out his tongue. "Serves you right!" he gleefully spat before focusing back in his former task. Sora pouted and slumped his shoulders. Still, he couldn't do anything but smile when he continued to watch his little friend building the sand castle of the century. 

Time passed and Riku grew tired. He neglected the castle for a while and crawled towards Sora, who was lying on his back with his eyes closed. 

"Soooora?" Riku poked the older boy but got no response except for a light grunt. 

"Sora Sora Sora!" He took Sora's collar and began shaking him almost violently. That caused Sora to open his eyes and he heaved a long sigh. 

"What is it?" he wearily asked, rubbing his forehead and eyes as he moved to sit up. He did feel a little dizzy but he assumed it would pass. 

Riku let go of him and blew out his breath, putting a hand to his chest. 

"I was worried," the little boy confessed, sighing again before looking up at Sora. "You look bad." He pointed at Sora's forehead, which was considerably flushed. Maybe he was getting sick? Sora refused to think that. He was probably just tired from taking care of Riku. 

"Oh I'm fine, it's nothing," he assured, patting Riku's head. "Thanks for worrying, though." 

Riku frowned and reached out to grab Sora's arms, pulling them together. He then climbed on his lap and stood on Sora's thighs, holding onto his shoulders for balance. One of his tiny hands came up to Sora's head and he gingerly placed it over his forehead. 

"You sure you're okay?" 

Sora's arms caught Riku in an embrace and the small boy was pulled close. "I'm really fine," Sora responded, pulling Riku even closer. It seemed he was trying to find some comfort in the embrace and Riku wasn't disinclined at all. 

And then, after a few minutes of hugging, Riku began to squirm. 

"Need to finish," he explained, trying to wriggle free. Sora reluctantly let go, hanging his head as he did. Riku frowned and bit his lip, watching Sora with a concerned look. He glanced back and forth between the sand castle and Sora as if he was trying to decide which one was more important. He looked longingly at his work but then shook his head and jumped right back into Sora's arms; catching the older boy off guard: they fell to the ground. 

"Riku!" the boy exclaimed in surprise. The silver haired boy just smiled and wrapped his tiny arms around Sora's neck. 

"I said I'll take care of you," the boy whispered, and then he placed a kiss on Sora's forehead. The older boy couldn't help blushing and swallowed audibly at the tumult inside him. Riku was just too adorable like that. But he wanted his old friend back, and the boy was going to be himself in less than a day and the whole magic would be gone. Why did it hurt so much? Sora felt confused and afraid of how Riku would act once everything was normal. Suddenly, he remembered something. He could hear the girls' voices in his memory when they were at the cinema. 

_ "We need to take photos of this!" Kairi suddenly exclaimed, a light bubble appearing over her head. Selphie's eyes widened and she nodded in agreement at the superb idea. _

"Yeah, that's it! Riku's just too cute! We need photos of him before he's back to normal!" 

He remembered that they had taken a lot of photos and wondered if they were already developed. 

He felt Riku letting go of him again and blinked as the boy grinned. 

"You're smiling again!" he happily squealed before scampering off to his sand castle. He hadn't even realized that he was smiling until Riku pointed it out to him. But the thought of having photos, at least _something_ as remembrance, made him more than happy. It would be all right, he thought, mentally nodding to himself. Riku was going to be himself again but at least he had those photos…which could turn out to be quite some blackmail material. Sora smirked at that thought. 

*** 

It was late afternoon when Riku had finally finished his masterpiece. He insisted on putting something over it to shelter it from waves or rain. Unfortunately they couldn't find anything proper for this purpose and eventually gave up, praying that it would stay at least for a few hours. Riku had put so much effort into this that it would be a pity to have it washed away. 

"What are we doing?" the boy inquired as he watched the silver chain around Sora's neck. He was being carried by Sora, as always, and they were going somewhere he recognized as Kairi's place. Monster alarm. 

"I dun like this place!" He pointed at Kairi's house and hid in Sora's shirt, burying his face to vanish. Kind of 'if I can't see her, she can't see me' logic. 

Sora just smiled and patted him on the head. "It'll be quick, I promise. I just need to ask her something." 

Riku's ears perked up. "Like…like…" he scrunched up his face in thought and put a finger to his lips. Then he nodded. "Advice!" he proudly declared, showing Sora that he could use the word he had newly learned. 

The brunet laughed and nodded, ruffling his hair. "Right, something like that," he replied. 

They reached the door and Sora knocked. No response. He knocked again but there was no one at home so no one answered. He sighed and frowned. Should he go to Selphie? He wanted to know about the photos but the thought of going to Selphie made him somewhat uneasy. Sure, they were friends and all but she did seem scary sometimes. He preferred Kairi. 

Still, the only way to get those pictures was Selphie and so he decided to overcome his fear. If one could call that fear. 

Riku didn't question him when they came to the hyper girl's place. They didn't have to knock because Selphie swung the door open just when they arrived, nearly walking into them as she kept talking on her cell phone. 

Sora raised his eyebrows. Who would have thought that Selphie had a cell phone? Her family didn't seem that rich and honestly, a cell phone on Destiny Islands was something seen not so often. He shrugged, supposing that it didn't matter. 

"Um, Selphie?" He waved his hand before her face and the brunette blinked, stopping in mid-sentence. 

"Huh? Sora!" She immediately hung up, only to wince as she realized what she had done. 

"Wait," she gestured at Sora to stand next to her and then dialed a number. Riku watched the 'monster', which he had promised not to call monster anymore, in a cautious way, clinging to Sora just in case she decided to eat him. 

"Eh, Kairi? Sorry for hanging up like that - uh yeah, that's right - no, I don't know - yeah sure but - right. Yeah I'll tell him - no, not that - right, right. Okay. Don't worry about it! Yup, I'll do that. You too. Okay. See ya-what? No, he's standing right next to me! Ooh and he's there, too. Hmmm I dunno…okay. If you say so." 

Suddenly Selphie handed the phone to Riku. "Kairi wants to talk to you." Sora blinked, wondering why she would talk to Riku and not to him. Looking at Selphie with a puzzled expression, the silver haired boy took the cell phone and frowned. 

"He…llo?" he suspiciously spoke into that thing. He had seen those things before but he couldn't remember using one. 

"Riku!" came a rather high-pitched voice and he grimaced. 

"Riku, I got something to tell you! Selphie will give Sora a few pictures and among those, there will be a little note. You gotta take it before Sora sees it, all right? Take it, and keep it! You might need it someday!" 

Riku wrinkled his nose and sulked. "But…but I can't read…" he muttered, sulking even more when he had to admit his weakness. 

Kairi chuckled and 'aww'ed. "That's okay, you will sooner or later. Just take the note and keep it, ok? Please?" She paused and smiled. "Sora will be very grateful," she added and then hung up. 

Riku blinked as the voice was gone and then handed the phone back to Selphie. 

"What did she say?" the two teens inquired, although Selphie knew what Kairi had said. It was all part of their plan. 

Riku shrugged and settled back against Sora's chest, snuggling up to him again. 

"I got the photos." Selphie handed Sora a pack of pictures and smiled. "All yours." 

At that moment, the silver haired boy quickly snatched it from his friend's hand and searched for the note that was supposed to be there. He found it and stuck it into his pocket. Sora, of course, would have noticed if it weren't for Selphie's distraction. He was a little confused as to why Selphie had known about his request without having him ask but her current ramblings about something that made no sense whatsoever distracted him well enough. 

Then, when the note was safe inside Riku's pocket, Sora was allowed to look at the pictures. 

He smiled at every single on of them and hugged Riku close. "That's you," he murmured in amusement as Riku stared at a picture of himself where he was crouched down with his hands over his head, trying to hide himself. 

Riku snorted and looked away. "Stupid…" he muttered, shaking his head. 

*** 

The last evening then arrived and Sora grew more anxious with the passing time. It was dark and it was late. Riku's parents were going to come back soon. They had eaten something prepared by Riku's mother because even though she left early in the morning, she found the time to cook dinner before leaving. They just had to warm it up in the evening. 

After eating, Sora noticed that Riku was getting tired. Playing in the sand had probably exhausted the little boy, since he had spent all his concentration and power on it. 

They changed into the pyjamas Sora had brought and Riku carefully placed his small pants on the chair at his desk, eyeing them one last time before going back to Sora. It was important to handle them carefully since the note was still there. He didn't know what it said since he couldn't read it but he supposed that Kairi was right and that he would need it sometime later. She said Sora would be grateful so he just _had_ to take it. 

Lying down on the narrow bed, Riku cuddled contently with Sora, curling up in his arms. They remained like this for a while, not moving, only breathing. Riku's breathing was light and slightly faster than Sora's, a child's breathing. Then, after a while, Riku stirred again and crawled up to nuzzle Sora's cheek. 

"I want to stay with you forever," he whispered, sounding so earnest and pure but also very childlike, which made the whole thing so hard. Children did that a lot. Declaring their love and telling others to be with them forever. For them, it seemed like forever but in reality it was probably just a few days. Children just didn't think much. 

"Forever's a long time, Riku," Sora bitterly answered, trying to hide the weariness in his voice. It was the last evening, after all. He should enjoy the last moments of this little boy with his adorable ways of showing affection. Grown Riku wouldn't do that anymore. 

Riku suddenly pulled away and shifted to look right into Sora's eyes. His expression changed drastically and Sora almost froze at the resemblance. It seemed his friend as already back to normal, with that serious and mature expression on his face. 

"I know that," the boy answered and this time there was no child speaking but the soul of a fifteen-year old boy. Sora could simply hear it. He could hear the difference between those voices, not because of the pitch, because that was still the same, but because of the way he spoke. It just felt different. 

"And I _still_ want to be with you forever." 

Sora closed his eyes, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. Should he really get so worked up on that? What if he was just imagining things? What if it was still the same, childlike voice talking, full of naïveté and innocence? 

Feeling Riku snake his arms around his neck, Sora smiled, either a little sadly or a little contently. He couldn't quite decide which one it was. 

"Me too," he whispered, pulling the small boy close. 

No words were exchanged after that. Sora was awake for another three hours until he finally fell asleep. The sound of Riku's calm and steady breathing lulled him to sleep and the last day was finally over. 

*** 

Sora opened his eyes as he thought he heard something rustle. There was the sound of sheets rustling. Blinking, he noticed how light it was, meaning that it was already morning. 

'Morning!' his mind piped up, causing him to wide his eyes. He couldn't feel Riku hugging him so that meant… He turned his head to look at the source of the sheets rustling. 

Now it was time to face the truth. It was time to look at what he had been awaiting in anxiety. It was time to see… 

...A sleeping, fifteen year old - and very naked - Riku in his bed, the tiny clothes of the night torn from his growth. 

Sora fainted. 

~To be continued.....?~ 

~~~~~~~~ 

** Ending notes: **  
Muahaha Riku's already back and we got a cliffhanger! I couldn't resist adding this last part! I wanted to have it in the next chapter but then I thought why not here? And can't you just imagine Sora seeing sleeping Riku with only the thin sheets covering his most private parts lol ^^  
Nosebleed! nosebleed! Well, since I didn't feel like messing up Riku's bed with tons of blood, Sora just fainted. Which is pretty harmless considered that he's still in bed so no falling to the ground or anything.  
Hmm...kay...that's it. Now it's only up to Riku how he handles the whole thing. Will he remember? If yes, does he still feel the same or will he pretend it never happened? Or will he not remember and everything goes as if there's nothing between them or might he even discover his feelings without remembering???   
Okay..*blinks* now I confused myself. *blinkblink* Ehm...we'll see. Ja!   
oh and review please, ne? *gets chibi Riku to beg* 

chibi Riku: "Pwease pwease pwease give us lots and lots of reviews! I promise to hug you all!"

Awwww!


	14. Just watch the fireworks

** Disclaimer: **  
*points at her reflection in the mirror and sings* You don't own Kingdom Hearts! Nya nya sucks to be you! ...wait... *blinks* 

** Warning: **  
hmmm Shonen AI! and...hmm... sexy Riku ohh yeah XD 

** Author's Ranting: **  
It took a while but I finally wrote it! It's still not the last chapter :P  
There's going to be one more. This one and then another one and then it's over, really. Well, how do you think Riku will react now that he wakes up wearing only his birthday suit and having Sora in bed? Muahaha....   
Lots of people who reviewed kind of knew what I was planning.... not trying to spoil the chapter but the fireworks are really important ^^ I planned that ever since I wrote it in chapter 8 or wherever it was ^^  
Now have fun! 

~~~~~~~~

A strange feeling in the chest, a burning sensation ran through the head – Riku's eyes fluttered open for an instant as he thought he heard someone in his room. 

The sudden cold and realization caused his body to shiver and he blushed as he looked down, sighing in relief as he saw that he was covered, at least down there. 

Turning his head slightly to his right, he wondered how he had gotten naked during the night since even though his mind was foggy he knew that he did _not_ sleep in the nude. Not ever. 

Then, something alarmed him. It was the sound of someone's breathing, someone's that wasn't his own. Narrowing his eyes he tried to remember why his head hurt so much and why he couldn't figure out what was going on. He was lucky he knew his name but aside from that everything seemed a mess right now. 

He turned his head further, into the direction of the breathing sound and when his eyes came to rest on a certain boy's face he froze. 

'Sora' his mind told him and he nodded at it. Okay, he remembered Sora. Good thing. Suddenly, however, his eyes widened and he instantly leapt out of the bed with a yelp, clutching to the sheets to wrap them around his waist. 

He tried to calm down but found himself staring at the sleeping boy, or was he dead? He didn't seem like he was sleeping but then again… Riku frowned. 

'Think, Riku, think…' he told himself, pacing about the room as he tried to clear his mind. 

Okay, last thing he remembered…last thing he remembered… 

His eyes swayed to the body on his bed again and he found himself staring at Sora again. His eyes just wouldn't leave the boy and all his mind could think of was, 'What the hell is he doing in my bed while I'm naked?!' 

Well, and then Riku blushed and plopped down on the floor with his arms crossed. Sora. In his bed. Sleeping. Riku. In his birthday suit. Blushing. 

Something about this was really weird, and being a teenager, Riku's mind was immediately in the gutter, showing him things he didn't really want to see. Had they really? But why? And if they had, shouldn't Riku remember? 

There came this problem again. Riku should remember and he felt that he did but then he didn't. Somehow, a lot of things were pacing in his mind, not allowing him to think of the things he wanted to know. 

He blinked. 

Something moved. 

Sora stirred and then cracked an eye open to look around. He was awake then and sat up, rubbing his head. 

"Geez, I just had the weirdest dream…" he mumbled, though more to himself than to anyone. Then he looked around again, seeing Riku but not really realizing he was there. The sky blue eyes wandered to Riku's side of the bed and the boy cocked his head as it was empty. Then he replayed the scenes in his mind. It was morning, meaning that Riku was back to normal now. 

In his dream he had seen Riku and he was naked. And that had sent him off to lala-land while he was certain that he was dying from blood-loss because of the major nosebleed he must have had. But fortunately it was just a dream and Riku was… 

Sora gulped. He looked around the room again and his eyes came to rest on something on the floor. 

No, not something. Someone. 

Their eyes met. 

An awkward silence overcame them and Sora just stared, partly in horror, partly in awe, mostly in he didn't know what. 

"Morning." 

Riku shifted in his position on the floor and scratched his head, shrugging slightly as the word left his mouth. 

Sora was still staring. 

And Riku stared right back. 

Something about the situation was really funny and Riku felt strangely like laughing but he wasn't sure why this all was happening. So instead, he just frowned and decided to push himself up. 

Sora watched as Riku got up and walked towards the dresser. 

'Good idea,' he thought, snorting slightly at his inability to think when Riku looked like that. He looked rumpled and the only thing he was wearing was a sheet around his narrow hips, threatening to come off every other second. Sora could be proud of himself, for he was still conscious. 

Riku opened the dresser and looked through his clothes. He bent down to pick something up and the sheet did slip then. 

Sora covered his eyes in time and turned away, blushing furiously at the boy's antics. If Riku was doing that on purpose he was going to kill him. 

Riku mumbled some curses as he realized what had happened and quickly got out a pair of pants to put them on. 'No underwear?' Sora asked himself as he peeked with one eye. Turning an interesting shade of red, Sora squeezed his eyes shut and covered them again.

Riku glanced at Sora out of the corner of his eyes and cleared his throat when he was dressed. Well, half dressed. He was still shirtless and Sora seemed close to drooling as he had opened his eyes again. 

Who would've known that grown Riku was so hot? Sora never noticed before. And he had been worried about how it would be once the sweet little boy was gone. 

Sweet little boy. Sora's gaze became distant as he remembered the last week, which seemed to be so far away now. Riku's little hugs and kisses, his innocent declarations of love and all his adorable ways of being himself. Sora sighed wistfully at the memory. 

"Um…I'll go have some breakfast now…" Riku then mumbled, still not comprehending what in the world was going on. He strolled out of his room and Sora sat on the bed for a bit longer. He heard Riku take out bowls and place them on the table. He heard him open the fridge. 

Sora became curious. Deciding to join his friend, he walked out with a bright smile. Might as well act normal, right? 

Riku was just setting up two bowls of cereal, seeming a little awkward with his movements. Maybe he needed to get used to his old body now? Little Riku had tripped a few times, probably due to the unusual workings of his body. Sora suddenly grinned, imagining his teenage Riku to trip like that. It would be just too cute. 

"Here," Riku murmured, handing Sora a spoon. 

The now once again younger boy nodded and sat down across from Riku, smiling at the food. Cereal. His favorite one, too. Riku still remembered that. But did he remember anything that happened the last week? 

Sora opened his mouth to ask him just that when he suddenly saw how Riku wasn't eating anything. He was sitting there with a thoughtful look on his face, staring at the bowl in front of him. If Sora looked closely, he could almost see him sulk. 

"Riku?" 

The boy's aqua eyes snapped up and Sora felt a shiver course through his body as he saw the purity of the orbs. He had been wrong. Once he had thought that only little Riku's eyes were so pure and innocent but he was wrong. Riku's eyes were _always_ like that. Shining and twinkling. Pure and innocent. He was having the same eyes as he had as a kid. 

"Somehow…this seems weird." 

The silver haired boy shifted in the chair and eventually moved his leg up on the chair to hug it. 

"What's weird?" Sora asked, sounding like he was talking to a little child. He was probably still used to talking like that. Riku didn't mind, though. He just sat there with his leg drawn up, looking back and forth between Sora and the bowl. 

"I don't know…" he murmured, confusing Sora. 

"Huh?" 

Riku suddenly picked up his spoon and gave it to Sora. 

"I really don't know but something tells me to give that to you. Really, I have no clue what's going on but…but…" Riku hesitated. Why was his mind still so clouded? He kind of remembered everything but somehow he didn't. It was all too confusing. It was like he had the memory in him, just lost the way to access it. 

Sora couldn't believe his ears and eyes but somehow he had a vague idea of what Riku wanted. Or what he didn't want, because he didn't know. 

"I think I understand," he replied, taking the spoon into his hand. He moved in his chair to lean over the table, which wasn't too difficult since the table was really small anyway, and took a spoon full of cereal. 

"Now open your mouth and say Aaaa." 

Riku blinked and cocked his head, idly wondering if Sora had lost his mind. Maybe he hit his head? 

"Ehh, I think you should visit a doctor or something. It's not healthy to have mental--" the boy began to mutter, only realizing his mistake as the milk ran down his throat and he spluttered and choked on it. 

Sora laughed a little and patted his back. 

"Didn't your parents tell you not to talk while eating? You can choke on that," Sora lectured him in mock disappointment and Riku just stared at him once again. Okay, something here was very wrong. The worst thing was, it didn't _feel _ all that wrong. Riku seriously considered visiting a doctor himself, maybe he was the one with the mental problems. 

Sora's cheerful laughter stopped him, however, and he found himself drawn to the beautiful cerulean eyes again. Sora was looking at him. 

"…what?" He dropped his gaze and looked at his lap, blushing subconsciously under his friend's gaze. 

"Nothing," Sora soberly answered, before pressing another spoon towards his lips. 

"Now be a good boy and eat," he lightly commanded and Riku nearly freaked out as he found himself being fed by his younger friend. Mental problems, that's what he had. 

*** 

After twenty minutes, the boys had finished eating. Sora had been trying to ask Riku about the last week, if he remembered anything and what he thought about it. He had been dropping hints for the last twenty minutes, hoping that Riku would take on the subject in case he didn't succeed in asking straight out. 

Strangely enough, Riku seemed completely oblivious to everything, though his behavior was showing that the last week had affected him. 

Riku blushed when Sora said something. He looked away when their eyes met for too long. Little things only Sora could notice showed that the week had affected him in a way. Even if he didn't remember it clearly, he must have had a feeling inside him. 

"Could you…could you leave me alone for a while?" 

Sora's ears perked up and he turned his head to Riku in surprise. Leave him? 

"S-sure…" he answered, feeling that he was _not_ sure. It would be the first time in seven days that they were actually separated. Excluding the short time while Sora was waiting for his parents and Riku had his match with Wakka. 

But now he was seriously leaving Riku alone. And who knew when they were going to meet? Well, it wasn't like they were saying goodbye. Riku's house was just a few feet away from Sora's to be honest. They practically lived next door. Okay, not quite but almost. A ten minutes walk at most. 

"Thanks. I…need to sort some things out. I feel kinda strange," the other boy confessed, rubbing his forehead as he did so. 

Sora nodded and got up, walking towards the door. 

Riku accompanied him and when the door opened, Sora took a deep breath. He had to ask. At least ask him, even if he didn't answer, it wouldn't matter. Just ask. 

"Riku, I wanna—" 

He was cut off, though, by Riku's arms wrapping around him in an awkward attempt to hug him. It was weird, though and Riku let go again, mumbling his apologies in a confused manner. 

Sora blinked in surprise. 

"I guess you should leave now…and I'm sorry…" Riku murmured, already turning around. Sora frowned but supposed there was nothing else to do. Maybe Riku had to sort things out first and then they would talk. Sora hoped it was true. 

"Yeah, okay," he cheerfully said, trying to smile casually. "We'll see each other later then. Bye!" He flipped around and skipped out of the house, taking a rather steady pace. It slowed, though, when he was a bit away. He was still in hearing range when he stopped. 

Riku was calling him. 

Turning, Sora saw the silver haired boy leaning against the doorframe with a concentrated look. His eyes wandered to meet Sora's then and the lips moved. 

Sora strained his ears to hear what the boy was saying. 

"The festival's tonight. Let's meet there." 

And before Sora could answer, Riku vanished into his house and shut the door. 

Sora frowned. 

*** 

Riku sank down to the floor after he closed the door. His heart was beating so fast he thought it was going to jump right out of his chest. 

Sora. In his bed. 

A few memories seemed to come back suddenly and he remembered the arcade and his attempt to play Dance Dance Revolution. He was too small to play. There was the chase through the arcade; he was small enough to run through the crowded place while Sora had difficulties. Then he remembered the fireworks and everything seemed to come clear now that he remembered that. 

A kiss. 

He had been confused, not understanding the meaning of a kiss but still feeling like it was the right thing to do. 

Riku closed his eyes and thought back. It was like a memory of his childhood, only that it was far more vivid than usual. 

Then another thing came to his mind. 

"The note," he said to himself, not really knowing what he was talking about. He got up, feeling his knees getting wobbly at the thought of Sora again and he wondered why he was feeling all those things now. 

No doubt, he liked Sora. He had liked him forever; he was his best friend since childhood. They had been completely inseparable back then. Even now they were one heart and one soul. Most of the times. Riku remembered getting a little distant when Kairi entered their life and he remembered getting even more distant as they hit puberty. Oh what horrors had Riku to go through back then. Thinking of Sora in a way he should have been thinking about Kairi. Then there were those feelings he couldn't describe and he decided to sweep it under the carpet, like everything else. 

He was proud. He wouldn't let something like that bring him down. 

And so it continued. Kairi and Sora never became a couple though it might have seemed like that in the beginning. It turned out Kairi was more like a sister to him than anything else. And Riku was glad about it. 

He was standing in his room again and his hand was taking out a note from the small pants on the chair. His pants, he remembered. The ones he had placed there with great care…last night. It was weird to think it was last night. It felt like years ago, when he had been a child. But then it was so vivid. 

Riku groaned and rubbed his head in annoyance and confusion. The note, he reminded himself. 

He unfolded the paper and looked at it. 

_"Dear Riku!"_

He could hear the girl's voice in his head as he read. 

_"Okay, now let's start with worst-case scenario. You don't remember anything. If that's the case, we're screwed. No, really, it would be bad. But I think you do remember, just try hard enough and you will."_

Riku snorted at that. He did remember though only slowly. 

_"Anyway, if you remember. Sora's in love with you."_

Riku choked. 

_"I know you're choking now but calm down."_

He laughed, then coughed a little and went on. She had written in extremely small letters to get everything she wanted to say on that little piece of paper. 

_"He's in love with you, like, madly, and I know you love him too. So what I'm saying is ** get together and screw like rabid bunnies**, ok? Do me that favour, Riku-dear!"_

Now it was time to stare wide eyed and beet red at Kairi's strange request. It sounded absolutely ridiculous and totally unlike Kairi. But maybe there were things he didn't know about her. Sora had been the one close to her, not he. 

_"PS: you were such a cute baby boy!"_

There was a heart drawn next to that line and Riku rolled his eyes. 

Well, at least that was very much like Kairi. 

He sighed and shoved the note into his pocket. Okay, he remembered. Slowly but surely, everything was coming back and his mind was able to sort out things. He sat down on his bed, then let himself fall backwards to stare at the ceiling. He felt around for something he thought he would find and indeed his hand grabbed something soft and furry. 

He smiled and then chuckled, taking the panda bear into his hands, raising it above his face. 

"Sora's Tao Tao," he murmured in amusement, remembering how he had given it to him. It was a little embarrassing, now that he thought about it. He had been acting like a complete retard the last week. Well, it wasn't that bad since he'd been a three-year-old but if he were to act like that in his current state... He rolled his eyes again. Mental problems, mental problems. 

But the thought of Sora made him smile. If it was true what Kairi said, and she was rarely wrong, Riku had good chances in getting his little happy ending. He had never really hoped for it since he always assumed Sora was straight. But as he remembered the week, Sora did seem kind of drawn to him. And it wasn't just the little boy he liked, so much Riku knew. 

*** 

Sora lay in his own bedroom now. His father was still sick and his mother was busy caring for him. 

The boy lay on his bed with the drawing in his hand. Next to him, photos were shattered over the pillow. The photos he had got from Selphie. 

"The festival…" Sora murmured, wondering if Riku remembered it because Selphie had told them some time ago or because he remembered the last week. 

"I never got to ask him…" 

He sighed in frustration and lolled his head around until he looked at the clock. It was late afternoon already. He had spent the whole day rolling around on his bed, partly in frustration, partly in anxiety. He had smiled quite a lot when he had looked at pictures. He had looked at them a million times now and the drawing – Sora loved the drawing. 

"Sora? Sora!" 

His mother called him suddenly and Sora quickly scampered off the bed to open the door, trying to block the view to the bed. His mother didn't need to see all the stuff he had shattered there. 

The woman rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I know your room's messy, you don't have to try to hide it." 

Sora nodded but remained in place. His mother smiled. 

"Well, today's the big festival, remember? Kairi's parents invited us to go with them but unfortunately we can't go. Thanks to your dad." 

There was a moan from the other room and then Sora's father huffed, "It's not my fault, ok?! Stop saying it's my fault!" 

The woman laughed and patted Sora's head. "You can go alone. Make sure you meet up with Kairi or Riku, or someone other of your friends. It's safer when you're all together." 

There was another complaint from his father and the woman rolled her eyes heavenwards, waving at Sora before disappearing to save her sick husband. 

Sora smiled. Yup, he would meet up with Riku there. The festival was about to start anyway so he might as well get ready. 

*** 

It was getting dark since evening came and Riku made his way through the crowd. He never knew Destiny Islands had _so_ many people. Well, he did but let's just say there were a lot of people. He almost considered sneaking off to the play island to be alone because somehow he didn't feel too well about this. 

Sora was nowhere in sight. 

"Boo!" 

Riku jumped and spun around to meet a familiar pair of eyes. 

"Oh, no. Hell, no. You, there. Get. The. Hell. Away. From. Me." 

Let's just say he was not really happy to see Selphie standing before him, dressed in a strange dress. Girls and their habits to run around like idiots on special occasions... 

"It's the festival!" she squealed, then bounced around Riku in circles. 

The silver haired boy merely gave her a look. "Uh-huh." Not really enthusiastic but who cared? 

Selphie eventually stopped, staring at Riku. She tilted her head and then poked him in the ribs, on the arm and tapped his nose. 

"Hey, you're bigger than me," she suddenly stated, as if it were a strange thing. Riku was almost tempted to insult her but he held it back. 

"Oh my! You're back to normal! I didn't even notice! Where's Sora??" She started ranting then and Riku really wondered if she was just pretending to be so stupid. She didn't notice, huh? 

"Sora's right here," a sudden voice rang and both Riku and Selphie turned to see the grinning brunet with his arms crossed behind his head. Selphie squealed, tackled him, rambled about something and then bounced off, vanishing into the crowd. 

Now was the moment. 

"Sora, I—" 

"Riku, I—" 

They both started to speak and stopped as they heard the other one. 

"You first," Sora offered but Riku shook his head. 

"No, you." 

Feeling as though it was another one of their competitions, Sora scowled. 

"No, you first. You started it anyway and you owe me an explanation!" He crossed his arms over his chest and gave Riku a threatening look. Or at least he tried because Sora was too adorable to be really threatening. 

"I owe you an explanation? Last time I checked, I was the one having amnesia, not you!" Riku spat in reply. 

Sora's expression changed drastically. He had been scowling but now he was just staring. He unfolded his arms and let them drop to his sides. Wetting his lips he attempted to say something but it took him a while for it to come out. 

"Am…amnesia?" 

Riku frowned at Sora's worried look. 

"Um, no…not really…just…just…" He cursed himself. How could he say something like that? It might have been amnesia before but now he remembered! And he wanted to tell Sora something. 

He opened his mouth and began to speak but his words were inaudible as suddenly a voice rang through the air. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, the great firework of this year is going to begin! Please stay at least a few feet away to keep safe! I wish you all much fun!" 

It was an announcer shouting through a microphone and Sora recognized the voice as the woman they had met while she and her group were trying to set up the firework. 

Riku's mouth closed and Sora frowned, for he hadn't heard what the boy said. He wanted to ask him to say it again but they were distracted by all the noise. Everyone was moving now, walking to get a better look or to sit down somewhere. 

Then the magic began. Colors started exploding in the dark sky. Flowers made of sparks adorned the firmament and both Sora and Riku, as well as the rest of Destiny Island's population stared at the spectacle in nothing but plain awe. 

Sora was enchanted by the beauty of it all and he instinctively reached out to take Riku's hand, squeezing it without really realizing what he was doing. 

Riku tore his gaze from the sky and looked at Sora with questioning eyes, only to realize that Sora was completely entranced by the firework. A smile graced the silver haired boy's lips and he squeezed back, turning to watch the spectacle, too. 

They stood there for what seemed like eternity as the colors kept exploding. Every time they thought it couldn't get better, a new kind came up and graced the night's sky with such a beauty that not even stars could create. 

It was simply breathtaking. 

After a while, though, Riku tugged on Sora's hand, signaling that he wanted something. The brunet turned his head, eyes still glued to the sky and Riku smiled at that, tugging once more to make him look at him. 

"Sora," he said but it was not heard, for the sounds of the firework and people were too loud. Sora knew that Riku said his name, though. 

The silver haired boy motioned Sora to follow him, jerking his head into one direction. Sora frowned but obeyed, letting Riku lead him wherever he wanted to go. He was still looking at the fireworks and was glad that it was big enough to be seen from anywhere of the island. 

They were at the docks and Sora was being pulled into a boat without really noticing. Riku had to chuckle at Sora's trance and kept his eyes on the boy as he rowed. They reached the play island quickly, for it wasn't far away. 

It was only then that Sora realized that they had left the main island. The fireworks, however, were still as beautiful, if not more beautiful. 

Everything around them was quiet and peaceful and only the distant sound of whistling and then exploding echoed through the air. 

They went to the little island with the Paopu tree and sat down on it, together. It gave the best view. 

"Sora," he whispered again and this time it was audible. Sora turned to face his friend, the question burning on his tongue. Did he remember? What did he feel? 

"Sora…" Riku said yet again, moving a little closer to his friend. "There's something I need to give you…" he murmured. 

Sora blinked and looked around. "Yeah?" 

Riku smiled and nodded, getting up to walk towards the Paopu tree. He picked something up from behind the tree trunk and then sat down next to Sora again. 

"I thought I told you to take good care of him," Riku huffed, pretending to be offended. 

Sora blinked his eyes at the panda being shoved into his face. 

"Tao Tao?" 

Riku grinned and threw the panda right into his face. "You liar!" he exclaimed in a childish voice, grinning all the time. 

Sora's eyes widened and he could almost see the little boy sitting there with his chubby limbs and plumb lips. But this was Riku, his fifteen-year-old friend. 

"I may not have known it back then but… forever really _ is _ a long time. I know that now." 

He got up again and Sora was more confused than ever. He watched as the silver haired boy strolled towards the tree again and then he watched how Riku climbed the tree, careful not to fall into the water. Sora had never managed to get it right. But Riku did it with ease. And he reached _ it_. 

Sora's eyes widened. 

Riku came down, holding the fruit in his hand with a triumphant smirk. 

"I know I'm amazing," he smugly remarked at Sora's surprised face. 

"It's the last of this season so we should take it before it gets all rotten. We would have to wait for another year to get a new one." 

It all seemed so casual, so carefree. Sora wasn't sure whether Riku was actually meaning to do is or just joking around. He wouldn't be able to take it if Riku were just joking. 

The older boy came to sit beside his friend again, a little closer than before. The little stuffed panda was between them but that was the only thing separating them. Riku broke the star shaped fruit into half. 

"One for me and one for you." He nudged Sora slightly to shake him out of his daze. Sora sure seemed out of it. Of course, Riku's heart was pounding like hell. Did he really mean to do this? He had liked Sora from the start and thinking about it, there was no one he would rather spent his life with than this boy. He would be with him forever. 

"I still want to be with you forever," Riku whispered, sounding exactly like he had that night. Sora gulped and found his hand reaching for the half of the fruit. 

"And I…I…" A lump was in his throat and he couldn't bring out anything. His voice croaked and he frowned before taking a deep breath. 

"I wan—" 

A high whistling sound and then a loud bang echoed through the air, louder than the usual ones. It managed to distract Sora and the brunet snapped his eyes to the sky, seeing the most beautiful and greatest flower explode over him, spreading over the firmament like thousands of colorful stars. 

Riku grinned and used the opportunity to push the Paopu into Sora's mouth, eating his half while he did so. 

Sora froze for a second, and then choked slightly in shock before swallowing the piece of juicy fruit. He stared at Riku for moment, not quite sure of what had happened and only realized the whole situation as he saw Riku finishing his half of the Paopu, wiping his gloved hands into the grass beneath them to get the remaining juice off. 

"It's just a legend…" Sora murmured as he finished his half. 

Riku nodded but smiled. "Yeah… I know." He paused, shrugging his shoulders once. "It was more meant to be symbolic, you know." Sora smiled and nodded, having that funny feeling in his stomach again. Those butterflies were still there.

Riku looked up at him and smiled, perhaps a little love-struck. "By the way, I think the Paopu tastes like crap," he then stated, sticking out his tongue to fan it, just like he had done it as a little kid with the toothpaste.

Sora laughed then and Riku shrugged a little helplessly. After they finished, silence overcame them. They sat together, very close to each other, Tao Tao lying in Sora's lap. Sora still hadn't said what he felt but at least he had the answer to his question now. Somehow Riku had managed to answer everything and initiate the whole thing without having Sora to do anything. He almost regretted having the older boy back because now it would always be like this. Riku, being the smarter one. Riku, the older and stronger one. 

"Um……." Riku suddenly shifted, dropping his gaze to hide a slight blush. "What?" Sora asked, curiously peering at him. 

Riku shrugged. "Just…ehemm…it's stupid but…I mean…" 

Sora smiled as Riku moved to hug him again. Only this time, he had his arms around Sora's neck while Sora wrapped his around the other boy's waist. They drew closer to each other and Riku smiled faintly as he snuggled closer. Being held wasn't such a bad thing, that, he had learned in the past week. 

"The only thing missing is the heart above us," Sora commented as he remembered the drawing Riku had made. 

The silver haired boy chuckled. He remembered the drawing as well. Again, it was embarrassing in a way but he supposed it was all right since Sora seemed to like it. 

The sounds of fireworks died down then and everything became quiet. When the boys thought it was over, one last explosion of colored stars spread in the sky. 

And due to some coincidence, or was it Kairi's doing, it was neither a flower- nor a star-shaped firework but instead, a big heart floated above the whole of Destiny Islands, as well as the boys' head. 

~To be continued.....?~ 

~~~~~~~~ 

** Ending notes: **  
Phew. No, it's not over yet! I want them to kiss too! And maybe they'll have to tell their parents... but maybe not! Not yet, that is. For everyone out there, I *am* going to write a sequel with Sora being chibi, I hope you all agree with that! Because I think...Strawberry Bubbles needs an end...but I'll leave it open. Kind of. Not really since they just shared a paopu and all that stuff. THE SAP! *dies* Gods, I'm so ashamed of writing such crappy sap... *sigh*  
But... I think every boy this age needs to make out, too, right? So, horny Riku, now back in his full glory, will want to ravish little Sora, who has taken suuuch good care of him. Unfortunately things go wrong :P  
Well, I will have a kiss in the next (and last) chapter. It's going to be the end of SB then ok? They kiss and something and then POW it's over!  
But keep looking out for the sequel, ne? I will definitely write it and at the end of it the two bishies might be allowed to make out! heh heh...   
now pwease review?  
I can't get kawaii chibi Riku to hug you but how about uber-sexy teenage Riku, huh, huh? Isn't that a nice offer? ...too bad he won't hug anyone but Sora ^^;;  
ja! Review please! 


	15. Tastes like

**Disclaimer: **  
Holy Spoon. 15 Chapters and I still don't own Sora and Riku. Life blows. 

**Warning: **  
mm...last chapter. sobsob 

**Author's Ranting: **  
Sorry sorry sorry. I wanted to do this waaaay earlier but then I wanted to wait till the first chapter of the sequel and everything was kinda delayed.   
Anywayz, this is the last chapter. Read to find out what you get (I know, the question that burns on everyone's tongue: "will Sora and Riku screw like bunnies?") 

* * *

"It's getting really late…" Sora mused as he looked at the darkened sky. It must have been after midnight, at least five few hours had passed since they had come here. Many people where still at the festival, he could see that from the little island. But he couldn't deny that his eyes started to get heavy and he fought his hardest not to yawn. 

Riku yawned. 

"Just a little longer…" he mumbled as he did something he used to do as a little boy. Riku's arms were wrapped around Sora and his face rested on his friend's shoulder. Without further warning, he began to gnaw gently on Sora's shoulder, playfully tugging on the shirt. 

"Rrrwwwrr…" 

Sora blinked and stared at Riku in a mixture of shock and amusement. The latter took over eventually and the brunet burst into laughter at Riku's strange behaviour. 

"What's gotten into you?" he asked between laughter, wincing slightly as Riku bit down on his shoulder. It didn't hurt, though. Riku was gentle. Nudging his shoulder again, Riku blew out his breath and buried his face in Sora's shirt. 

"You know…I think I learned something…" he began, rubbing his nose against the soft fabric of Sora's shirt. The scent was intoxicatingly fresh. Not sweet or anything. Just really refreshing and it made you feel good. 

Sora chuckled and tapped Riku on the head. "Oh, now you're starting with the _moral of our story_ or what?" 

Sora was rewarded with another small bite that told him to shut up. He sniggered. It didn't take too long for him to be quiet then and Riku heaved a sigh and yawned again. He seemed to have forgotten that he had started to say something and was almost drifting off to sleep as he lay in Sora's arms. Sora's arms… 

"You took care of me all the time…" he murmured, forcing himself to stay awake for the sake of his need to state the point he saw in this whole turning into kid thing. He really thought that there was a point in everything, even in this stupid incident. 

"No kidding," Sora answered. "You were such a pain in the—" 

Riku bit him yet again and this time it did hurt a little. "Ow!" Sora exclaimed, slapping Riku's back. The silver haired boy chuckled and mumbled something like "serves you right." 

Then it was silent. 

They spent at least half an hour in silence, undisturbed and completely content. Sora's eyes dropped shut and he considered staying out tonight. The way home seemed so long, too long so that it was a lot better to just sleep here. Riku seemed to be of his opinion, as he felt the boy's head dropping limply against his shoulder. 

"I dare you to drool on me…" Sora half-heartedly muttered as he shifted slightly to get into a more comfortable position. 

When he moved him and Riku, he saw that the silver haired boy's eyes were still open and he seemed wide-awake, at least for the moment. 

They looked into each other's eyes and a smile crept up Riku's lips. 

"I like you taking care of me," he whispered. 

Sora blinked, not quite understanding what Riku meant by this at first. He only realized the meaning when Riku leaned in and-- 

"WELL, I JUST HOPE WE'RE NOT DISTURBING ANYONE, SELPHIE!" 

A voice roared through the air, causing the boys to bump their heads in irritation at the sudden and very loud intruder. 

Sora quickly pulled away and snapped his head from side to side, scanning their surroundings for the source of the voice. Riku followed suit and he was soon looking into the right direction, catching sight of two girls and two boys getting out of their boats. 

"Oh no." 

Sora's ears perked up and he turned to his friend. "What's up?" he asked, blinking his innocent blue eyes in a way only he could do. 

Riku had to smile at this and was tempted to lean in again. To hell with the audience if that's what they wanted to be. But then he reminded himself that it might _not_ be the greatest idea to start making out with Sora in front of everyone. Not because he thought they would mind but more because he thought they would get too caught up in it….because he knew Selphie and Kairi's strange tendency to pair up guys with their best friends. He'd known it for a long time and he always wondered how Tidus and Wakka could stand the company of the girls, especially Selphie. She was boy-crazy but in the boy-on-boy kind of way. 

"MAYBE WE SHOULD LEAVE BEFORE WE CATCH SOMEONE MAKING OUT!" Kairi hollered again and it was very obvious that she was trying to warn Sora and Riku. 

There was a half muttered protest from Selphie; Riku could hear it when he strained his ears. Then the boys, Tidus and Wakka, said something but it was too unclear to understand. 

Eventually, the four teens came closer, strolling along the beach and towards the little bridge that led to the isle with the Paopu tree where Sora and Riku were sitting. 

Kairi saw them immediately and even though it was dark, Riku thought he saw her winking at them. Sora was just looking around, seeming puzzled as he watched the group of his friends. 

"Hey, what are they doing here?" he asked Riku, frowning slightly. It was late and he thought they had long gone home or were at least on their way home. After all, the whole festival thing was always really exhausting. 

"How should I know?" Riku absently replied as he got up to dust himself off. He wobbled slightly from side to side, indicating that he was indeed sleepy already. Kairi was the first one to reach them, running towards the boys with a big smile. She hugged Riku as soon as she was there, tackling him slightly with the force of her run. 

"Hiya! I haven't even seen you ever since you changed back to normal!" 

Selphie giggled and came bouncing after Kairi, swaying her head from side to side. Riku backed away from her almost instinctively. 

Sora smiled and decided to stand up, too. He walked to Kairi, gave her a hug and whispered something into her ear so that Riku felt a little jealous when he saw that. It seemed… intimate. 

"Mine…" he subconsciously muttered, edging closer to Sora to get a hold of his sleeve. 

When Kairi noticed that she looked over to Riku and smiled, reaching out to pat his head. 

"Still not quite, huh? But I admit you're cute when you act like a three-year-old." 

It caught Riku off guard when he realized he was indeed acting very much like a child. He blinked, then shook his head and frowned. He must get back to normal. Back to his old self. Seemingly the potion had some side effects on his psyche and now he was acting like a retard. 

"Shit…" he muttered, banging his hand on his head. It was aaaaalllll Selphie's fault. 

Sora laughed and caught his wrists to stop him from hurting himself. He gave him an affectionate smile and leaned in to his ear, whispering softly, "I just thanked her for her help. Nothing to be jealous about, I'm all yours." 

He stopped pounding on his head and gazed at Sora with a little awe glittering in his eyes. Riku blushed. He looked down and shuffled his feet in embarrassment. "It…I know…I wasn't…" he mumbled, sounding cutely sulky. Sora melted. This was more than he could have ever imagined. Riku was ten thousand times cuter when he was 15. Who would have known? 

"So, who's the girl?" Tidus suddenly asked, drawing the attention to himself as everyone turned to stare at him. 

"Huh?" Sora scratched his head and looked around. "What girl?" 

Tidus grinned and crossed his arms. He then drew his lips together to a fine line as though he was thinking it over again but then he nodded and grinned again. 

"Nah, who's the girl in your relationship? You know, who's the one getting carried and held and stuff?" 

Kairi snickered at Sora's puzzled expression. Could a fourteen-year-old boy really be that clueless? She sighed dreamily at the boy's adorableness. She had always known why she liked him. 

Selphie laughed and pointed at Sora. "Obviously it's Sora! He's younger, he's naïve, he is _so_ uke!" 

Tidus raised an eyebrow. "Uke?" 

Selphie nodded her head vigorously. "Yeah, that means he's the submissive one. He's the _girl_! That's the term you use when talking about yaoi and every fangirl knows that. And, and usually it's the younger and smaller one who's the uke, you see, so it must be Sora, ne? Ne?" 

Sora immediately opened his mouth to protest. "Heeey! Wait a second! Riku is much girlier than me!" he exclaimed, flailing his arms into the air in irritation. 

"I think you meant _more girly_, ya?" Wakka asked in amusement, cocking his head to one side. Sora rolled his eyes and clenched his teeth. Who cared about poor grammar. He was _not_ a girl. 

But all his protesting seemed lost as his friends suddenly started arguing about whether it was "girlier" or "more girly" and then the topic changed completely because the next thing Sora picked up from their conversation was something about hot dogs and mustard. 

All the while Riku was standing there, just kind of staring off into space. Sora glanced at him with a bit of worry and decided to nudge him, just to make sure he was still here. 

Riku was startled, obviously, and jerked away as Sora nudged his arm. He narrowed his eyes and then stared at Sora as though he was sizing him up. At last he gave him a nod and began to smirk. 

"Yup, you're definitely the girl," he stated, somewhat smugly so that all Sora could do was pout and stick out his tongue. But all of Riku's teasing only made him love the boy more and more. Riku took his hand then and they held hands, smiling slightly as they glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes. Something about this was really comforting. The feel of someone's hand in your hand. Sora loved the emotions passing him when he squeezed his friend's hand. A simple touch could be so magical and it was all so exciting because it was Riku. 

Suddenly, however, the beautiful dream-like idyll was destroyed. 

A high-pitched scream ripped them out of bliss and they saw a flash of yellow before their eyes and a very distressed Selphie bounced in front of them. 

"YouYouYouYouYou!!" she squealed, having a troubled look on her face. "YouYouYou! YouYou! Theretherethere!" She then pointed at the Paopu tree and made wild signs and gestures with her hands, as though she couldn't talk anymore. And indeed, her voice didn't seem to work all that well, for all she could do was utter some half-choked syllables. 

The teens turned to look at the tree and expected to see the Paopu fruit hanging there. Instead, there was nothing, though. The yellow fruit was gone and it had been the last of this season, too. Not that anyone ever ate it but it was always some kind of symbol that the colder season was coming when the last Paopu fruit fell off the tree. 

Kairi was the first one to realize what Selphie thought and turned back to Sora and Riku. 

"Have you seen it fall down? Or…did you…purposely take it down?" 

She had the feeling the boys had done something with the fruit, something she wasn't sure whether any of them would have done. But of course it could have also been that the fruit just dropped off the tree because it was time and Sora and Riku had seen it fall into the ocean. 

But the look on Sora's face (and he was such an open book) told Kairi that the former theory was very much more likely. Riku's face was also not very concealing, which was a bit out of character in her opinion. Riku could keep a mask sometimes. But not always, as she just saw. 

The boy's blushing complexions told her everything. Selphie was slowly regaining her senses and her power seemed to come back very quickly, for in the next second she was bouncing wildly again. 

"You shared it, didn't you?! You shared the Paopu! Oh my God, you shared a Paopu! Awww it's like you're married already!" She clapped her hands together and squealed in what seemed to be delight and shock at the same time. Riku almost feared she was going to burst from…whatever she felt. 

Then they were showered with questions. Riku couldn't even understand half of them and Sora was clutching to him helplessly as Kairi and Selphie, and even Tidus and Wakka bombed them with questions about whether the legend was true and how they felt and what it was like to share one and and and… 

"So what did it taste like?" Kairi cheerfully inquired, eyes sparkling in excitement. 

Riku shrugged, eyeing the yellow-clad girl on the right a little suspiciously. He had to admit that Selphie scared him... Turning back to Kairi he shook his head and shrugged again. 

"It tasted awful. Just awful. Like, you mix toothpaste with mud or something." 

Sora shook his head. "Nah! That's not it! I think it tasted like…like…" He crossed his arms and thought a little on it, chewing on his lower lip as he did. Kairi watched him with great care and expectation. 

Meanwhile Tidus and Wakka had somehow found a way to amuse themselves with throwing logs into the water. They seemed to be easily entertained. Selphie was watching them and cheering on Tidus to throw the logs farther than Wakka. 

"So, what did it taste like, huh? Come on, Sora, tell me," the auburn haired girl urged, putting her hands to her hips. 

Sora frowned and unfolded his arms to let them fall back to his sides. 

"You know that foul taste when you've just woken up in the morning?" 

Kairi nodded. 

"Yeah…take that…and…and…add the taste of raw onions. Kind of like that…" he mumbled, grimacing at the memory of the terrible fruit. He hadn't complained before simply because he hadn't really noticed. The whole atmosphere had been so magical and so romantic that he didn't even realize anything beside Riku. But now that he was talking about it, casually talking about it with his friends… It tasted gruesome. Like onions. 

"Onions?!" Selphie suddenly squeaked, jumping up from her position next to Wakka and Tidus. 

"You mean the star-shaped symbol of love that entwines our destinies tastes like onions?!" 

"And mud," Riku meekly added, hiding behind Sora when Selphie seemed to go berserk. 

"ONIONS?! I can't believe it tastes like onions!" And then the girl began to ramble about her lost dreams, about the now disappearing mythos of the _fruit of love_. And she was swooning for show only to get up and ramble again; it was quite a show. 

Wakka meanwhile stopped competing with Tidus and scratched his head in wonder. Hadn't there been this part of the legend that said… 

"Hey, aren't Paopus supposed to taste like your lover?" Kairi suddenly asked, turning to her friends with questioning eyes. Tidus raised his eyebrows 

"Really? Never heard of that," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. 

Wakka, however, nodded at Kairi. "That's right, ya. The legend says, 'Those who share the Paopu will share one sky, one destiny. Their love shall bind them together and as evidence of their connection, they will forever hold the taste of their lover in memory…' …or something like that, ya." 

Wakka wasn't a genius when it came to quoting old legends but he knew that passage of the story everyone always talked about. He had always wondered how you were supposed to 'hold the taste of your lover in memory' since…how was a person supposed to taste like something? 

Sora and Riku exchanged a look as the words sank in. 

They stared at each other and both had slightly worried looks on their faces. Somehow, this couldn't be right. Somehow, Sora couldn't just taste like toothpaste mixed with mud and Riku couldn't taste foul and like raw onions. Right? 

They gave each other doubting and worried glances. 

Kairi, however, managed to pull them out of their misery. "Oh come on! It's just a legend! It's probably not true so don't worry about it! I bet it's meant like…when you share the Paopu, you kiss the person and theeeen you'll know what they taste like. Right?" 

She smiled in that easy-going way of hers and patted both Sora and Riku on the back to reassure them. It didn't quite work, though. Sora gave Riku a slightly anxious look while Riku grimaced slightly at the thought of kissing Sora only to find he tasted that terrible. 

Selphie still hadn't got over the fact that Paopus tasted like onions and only talked incoherently and gibberish when Kairi took her hand to lead her away. 

"We're going home now. Selphie just wanted to check on you, and I wanted to see how things are going…" Kairi turned to Sora and gave him another friendly smile. 

"Seems like everything went according to the plan, huh?" She winked at the spiky haired boy and then turned around to drag Selphie away, followed by Tidus and Wakka. 

It looked funny, the way those four kids left the island. Kairi was leading them, dragging a half traumatized Selphie with her while Tidus and Wakka went after them like two bodyguards. 

"They're strange…" Sora murmured with a smile, regaining his wits and forgetting about his worries of foul taste. Indeed, they were strange people. But he liked them and all of them were his friends, no matter how weird they really were. 

It was about 2 in the morning when Riku sneaked into his room, pulling Sora along. His parents had been at home but they were sleeping on the living room couch, probably having fallen asleep while watching TV after a day full of work. 

Sora supposed his parents knew he would spend the night with Riku. It wasn't unusual for them to stay somewhere during the night. Sometimes they would just sleep outside on the beach, their parents never really minded. 

This time, however, it was a bit different. 

Riku smiled lazily when he went to sit down on his bed. He patted the spot beside him to tell Sora to sit down next to him, which the boy immediately did. 

Arms came wrapping around him and soon the boys were locked in a tight embrace, causing Riku to fall backwards on the mattress so that Sora was lying on top of him. The younger boy leaned down. 

"I love you," Sora whispered against Riku's lips, not quite touching them yet. 

Riku shuddered and tightened his arms around Sora, crushing him closer to him. 

"I love you more," he hurriedly whispered back, as though he meant to say something better so he could win against Sora. It almost seemed like a competition when they caressed each other and nuzzled each other. 

Sometime during their little competition, when Riku was trying his best to keep awake, Sora had to chuckle at the ridiculousness of it all. They were both dead tired, exhausted, and on top of it all they were both inexperienced with things like that. 

"Riku, just stop it for now," the brunet suggested, rolling off his friend to settle beside him. The bed was narrow so they had to lie really closely together. 

"So you're giving up already, huh?" the silver haired boy teased, smirking slightly, even though he had to strain every inch of his body to stay awake. 

Sora rolled his eyes and snuggled up with Riku. Leaning to his ear, he kissed it gingerly and smiled. 

"No, I won already. And now let's sleep 'cause I'm tired…" 

Riku blinked and raised his head. 

"What? When did you win?" he complained, truly worried that he had missed something. 

A grin suddenly spread over Sora's face and even though his eyes were already closed he knew exactly where Riku's face was. And so he raised his head, too, leaned in and pressed his lips to Riku's in a swift movement. 

Riku gasped, parting his lips involuntarily. He mouthed Sora's name against the soft, plumb lips and the friction it created was unbearable. They kept moving their lips and occasionally their tongues licked across the lip but then the boys drew away in need for air. 

Riku's heart was racing when he pulled away and he suddenly seemed wide-awake again. 

Sora, on the other hand, seemed truly exhausted now, just as though this…kiss…had cost him all his power. 

Smiling slightly, Sora inched closer to Riku until his lips were right at his ear again. 

"See? I just won," he slyly whispered, eyes dropping shut in contentment. 

Riku blushed. 

Licking his lips in wonder and sleepy excitement, Riku noticed the strange taste on his tongue and lips. It certainly did not taste like mud. In fact, he knew that strange taste, now that he thought about it. He knew it well, and Sora knew it too. 

It was the taste of that cereal! Choco Crispies, or whatever it was called. 

Riku blinked. It was logical when you thought about it. Sora ate those things 24/7 so he must taste like them. It was still strange, though. Riku knew that he didn't like the taste of that junk food. He just knew he hated cereal even though Sora made him eat it every time they came across it. He even kept some in his house but only for Sora, who would come to him early in the morning to have a second breakfast since his mother had thrown him out, complaining that he ate way too much and should better start training before he got chubby. 

Coming out of his thoughts, Riku then noticed that his tongue was repeatedly lapping over the lips just as though he was trying to get more of the taste. And then it hit him. He was addicted to it! Riku wanted more of that taste and if he hadn't been so dead tired, he would have gotten up and made himself a bowl of Choco Cripies right now. 

That, or kissed Sora again. 

But both things were above the things he could do. He just couldn't move anymore, and sleep was certainly taking over. 

"You don't taste like onions…" Sora suddenly mumbled, exhaustion clearly audible. 

"Sshh…just sleep," Riku whispered, reaching out to caress the younger boy's sleep. Somehow Sora was fighting to stay up even though he was practically half asleep already. 

The brunet made a small sound of protest and nudged Riku's hand away, shaking his head ever so slightly. 

"No…lemme get this straight…" 

He cracked one eye open, yawning in the progress. 

"The legend can't be true. The Paopu tasted like onions but you don't. You taste like…like…" he paused suddenly, the one open eye threatening to shut again as the silence threw its shelter over the boys. Riku was on the edge of falling asleep, too and the silence was really not helping to stay awake. 

Outside the wind was howling, not much but enough to be audible. It was a soothing sound. After all the noise from the festival it was quiet again, quiet and peaceful. 

"…bubblegum…" Sora yawned, burying his head in the crook of Riku's neck. Then he was really asleep. And all was quiet. 

The silver haired boy lay awake for another hour while Sora had decided to steal his blanket, take almost all of the space and mumble about 

"Bubblegum?" he kept wondering. Why would he taste like bubblegum? And what kind of bubblegum? Well, at least he didn't taste like onions…he had been really afraid of finding out that he tasted awful. He would never be able to kiss Sora. 

He then remembered when he had asked Sora to 'play the game' the night he'd seen that embarrassing movie on the adult channel. He blushed deep scarlet when he remembered all the things he had done as a little kid. He wondered how Sora had been able to put up with him. 

Turning a little to get a better view on the adorable boy, Riku reached out his hand. He stopped inches before Sora's face, just above his cheek. Sora was sleep talking, mumbling unintelligible things. Riku watched the lips move and before he knew what he was doing, his lips were on Sora's. 

He kissed the boy, tasting that sweet cereal again and pulled away after a few moments to see that Sora was smiling. He didn't seem awake but he must have felt the kiss. 

Riku remembered the week once again. He replayed all the past experiences, everything he had said and done with Sora that week. Tao Tao came to his mind and he raised his head again to see that Sora had really taken care of him, as he was lying on the floor, next to the bed. 

As he was thinking and remembering, another thought passed in his mind. 

What would it have been like when their roles had switched? What if the whole thing had happened to Sora and Riku would have been obligated to take care of him for one week? 

It intrigued him somewhat but then he thought that he didn't care. What's done is done and now it's over, he sleepily thought. 

At the feeling of Sora snuggling closer to him, Riku let his mind shut down right after he wrapped his arms around his adorable friend. The blanket had fallen to the floor but the boys didn't care. 

Riku would have liked to give Sora one last good night kiss, but he only reached the stage of thinking of it, for in the next moment, he was asleep. 

And in the morning, no one came to disturb them. 

Riku's parents were early gone as usual. Well, not quite. Riku's father had come into the room for a short moment, shortly before he left for work. 

He'd seen the boys lying together and for some reason it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. Walking over to them, he picked up the stuffed panda, whom he knew as Tao Tao, the little thing Riku had loved so much when he'd been little, and put it between the boys. Not to separate them but only because it looked nice. 

He chuckled and shook his head, turning around to leave the kids. Whatever they'd been doing, he was sure it was nothing bad, considering that they had their clothes on. Shrugging, he strolled out to get to work. 

"They're probably sleeping till noon again," Riku's mother mumbled as she passed her husband, walking out to go to work herself. 

The man smiled. "Just leave them. They're young." 

They smiled at each other, kind of remembering the time when they had been their son's age. 

"You think they're doing…you know…things?" the woman suddenly asked, blushing a little at the thought. 

Her husband shrugged. "They're young," was his only answer and then he left. 

In the bedroom, the two boys slept contently. Sora was finally getting his well-deserved rest and Riku could finally claim Sora as his. 

And when they woke up, fully rested and full of energy… they would make out like there was no tomorrow! 

The END 

...to be continued in "Blueberry Sky"... **

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Ending notes:   
Yay it's over. I wanted to post this when I had the first chapter of the sequel but I'm not done with it so you get this first. The sequel is gonna be called "Blueberry Sky" - I know, makes no sense whatsoever but neither does Strawberry Bubbles so ha!   
And... mm I hope you liked this chapter. Riku and Sora did NOT get to make out YET...not in this story, you'll have to wait till the end of Blueberry Sky (see, that's how I keep my readers lol) so make sure you read the sequel as soon as it's up to see what little Sora will do to drive Riku insane, now that its payback time And also read to see how their relationship will develop after that...   
Ok, that's all of me now. Ya know Riku already hinted at the sequel with his thought of "What if their roles switched" heh heh... mmm ok   
Review if you like! bye! 


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